Memory: how to develop, train, and use it

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MEMORY

THE NEW PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS

By William Walker Atkinson

In the past few years a widespread mental and spiritual
awakening has taken place among the people of this country.
And this new awakening has been very aptly called THE
NEW PSYCHOLOGY MOVEMENT, because it has to do
with the development and expression of the mind, or soul, of
both the individual and the nation.

YOUR MIND AND HOW TO USE IT.

THE MASTERY OF BEING.

MEMORY: HOW TO DEVELOP, TRAIN

AND USE IT.
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Although each book stands alone as an authority on the
subject treated, yet one idea runs through the series binding
them together to make a complete whole.

Uniform Postpaid Price of Each Volume is $1.60.

NEW THOUGHT: ITS HISTORY AND PRINCIPLES

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MEMORY

HOW TO DEVELOP,
TRAIN AND USE IT

By WILLIAM WALKER ATKINSON

L. N FOWLER & COMPANY

7, Imperial Arcade, Ludgate Circus

London, E. C, England

1919

THE ELIZABETH TOWNE CO.
HOLYOKE, MASS

1*C

Copyright 1912
By
BLIZABETH TOWtfE

CONTENTS

I. Memory : Its Importance 7

II. Cultivation of the Memory 17

III. Celebrated Cases of Memory. ... 27

IV. Memory Systems . . . . 37

V. The Subconscious Record-File.. 48

VI. Attention . . 58

VII. Association 70

VIII. Phases of Memory. ,. . . . 81

IX Training the Eye 90

X. Training the Ear 101

XL How to Remember Names. . 111

XII. How to Remember Faces 121

XIII. How to Remember Places. ., 130

XIV. How to Remember Numbers 140

XV. How to Remember Music. 152

XVI. How to Remember Occurrences.. 160

XVII. How to Remember Facts 168

XVIII. How to Remember Words, etc. .178

XIX. How to Remember Books, Plays,

Tales, etc 186

XX. General Instructions .197

CHAPTER I.

MEMORY : ITS IMPORTANCE.

It needs very little argument to convince the
average thinking person of the great import-
ance of memory, although even then very few
begin to realize just how important is the
function of the mind that has to do with the
retention of mental impressions. The first
thought of the average person when he is
asked to consider the importance of memory,
is its use in the affairs of every-day life, along
developed and cultivated lines, as contrasted
with the lesser degrees of its development. In
short, one generally thinks of memory in its
phase of " a good memory " as contrasted with
the opposite phase of " a poor memory. ' ' But
there is a much broader and fuller meaning
of the term than that of even this important
phase.

It is true that the success of the individual
in his every-day business, profession, trade
or other occupation depends very materially

7

8 Memory

upon the possession of a good memory. His
value in any walk in life depends to a great
extent upon the degree of memory he may
have developed. His memory of faces, names,
facts, events, circumstances and other things
concerning his every-day work is the measure
of his ability to accomplish his task. And in
the social intercourse of men and women, the
possession of a retentive memory, well
stocked with available facts, renders its pos-
sessor a desirable member of society. And in
the higher activities of thought, the memory
comes as an invaluable aid to the individual
in marshalling the bits and sections of know-
ledge he may have acquired, and passing
them in review before his cognitive faculties
—thus does the soul review its mental pos-
sessions. As Alexander Smith has said: "A
man's real possession is his memory; in noth-
ing else is he rich ; in nothing else is he poor."
Kichter has said : i ' Memory is the only para-
dise from which we cannot be driven away.
Grant but memory to us, and we can lose
nothing by death." Lactantius says: "Mem-
ory tempers prosperity, mitigates adversity,
controls youth, and delights old age."

Its Importance 9

But even the above phases of memory rep-
resent but a small segment of its complete
circle. Memory is more than "a good mem-
ory"— it is the means whereby we perform
the largest share of our mental work. As
Bacon has said: "All knowledge is but re-
membrance." And Emerson: "Memory is a
primary and fundamental faculty, without
which none other can work: the cement, the
bitumen, the matrix in which the other facul-
ties are embedded. Without it all life and
thought were an unrelated succession." And
Burke: "There is no faculty of the mind
which can bring its energy into effect unless
the memory be stored with ideas for it to
look upon." And Basile: "Memory is the
cabinet of imagination, the treasury of rea-
son, the registry of conscience, and the coun-
cil chamber of thought." Kknt pronounced
memory to be "the most wonderful of the fac-
ulties." Kay, one of the best authorities on
the subject has said, regarding it: "Unless
the mind possessed the power of treasuring
up and recalling its past experiences, no
knowledge of any kind could be acquired. If
every sensation, thought, or emotion passed

10 Memoby

entirely from the mind the moment it ceased
to be present, then it would be as if it had
not been; and it could not be recognized or
named should it happen to return. Such an
one would not only be without knowledge,—
without experience gathered from the past,
—but without purpose, aim, or plan regard-
ing the future, for these imply knowledge and
require memory. Even voluntary motion,
or motion for a purpose, could have no ex-
istence without memory, for memory is in-
volved in every purpose. Not only thfe learn-
ing of the scholar, but the inspiration of the
poet, the genius of the painter, the heroism
of the warrior, all depend upon memory. Nay,
even consciousness itself could have no ex-
istence without memory for every act of con-
sciousness involves a change from a past
state to a present, and did the past state

vanish the moment it was past, there could be
no consciousness of change. Memory, there-
fore, may be said to be involved in all con-
scious existence— a property of every con
scious being!

In the building of character and individual-
ity, the memory plays an important part, for

Its Importance 11

upon the strength of the impressions received,
and the firmness with which they are re-
tained, depends the fibre of character and
individuality. Our experiences are indeed
the stepping stones to greater attainments,
and at the same time our guides and protec-
tors from danger. If the memory serves us
well in this respect we are saved the pain of
repeating the mistakes of the past, and may
also profit by remembering and thus avoid-
ing the mistakes of others. As Beattie says :
"When memory is preternaturally defective,
experience and knowledge will be deficient in
proportion, and imprudent conduct and ab-
surd opinion are the necessary conse-
quence." Bain says: "A character retain-
ing a feeble hold of bitter experience, or
genuine delight, and unable to revive after-
wards the impression of the time is in reality
the victim of an intellectual weakness under
the guise of a moral weakness. To have
constantly before us an estimate of the
things that affect us, true to the reality, is
one precious condition for having our will
always stimulated with an accurate refer-
ence to our happiness. The thoroughly edu-

12 Memory

cated man, in this respect, is lie that can carry
with him at all times the exact estimate of
what he has enjoyed or suffered from every
object that has ever affected him, and in
case of encounter can present to the enemy as
strong a front as if he were under the genu-
ine impression. A full and accurate memory,
for pleasure or for pain, is the intellectual
basis both of prudence as regards self, and
sympathy as regards others/ '

So, we see that the cultivation of the mem-
ory is far more than the cultivation and de-
velopment of a single mental faculty— it is
the cultivation and development of our en-
tire mental being— the development of our
selves.

To many persons the words memory, recol-
lection, and remembrance, have the same
meaning, but there is a great difference in
the exact shade of meaning of each term.
The student of this book should make the
distinction between the terms, for by so do-
ing he will be better able to grasp the vari-
ous points of advice and instruction herein
given. Let us examine these terms.

Locke in his celebrated work, the "Essay

Co:

Its Importance 13

•ncerning Human Understanding" has
clearly stated the difference between the
meaning of these several terms. He says:
"Memory is the power to revive again in our
minds those ideas which after imprinting,
have disappeared, or have been laid aside out
of sight— when an idea again recurs without
the operation of the like object on the exter-
nal sensory, it is remembrance; if it be
sought after by the mind, and with pain and
endeavor found, and brought again into
view, it is recollection." Fuller says, com-
menting on this : "Memory is the power of re-
producing in the mind former impressions,
or percepts. Eemembrance and Recollection
are the exercise of that power, the former be-
ing involuntary or spontaneous, the latter vo-
litional. We remember because we cannot help
it but we recollect only through positive ef-
fort. The act of remembering, taken by it-
self, is involuntary. In other words, when
the mind remembers without having tried to
remember, it acts spontaneously. Thus it
may be said, in the narrow, contrasted senses
of the two terms, that we remember by chance,
but recollect by intention, and if the endeavor

14 Memoby

be successful that which is reproduced be-
comes, by the very effort to bring it forth,
more firmly intrenched in the mind than
ever."

But the New Psychology makes a little dif-
ferent distinction from that of Locke, as giv-
en above. It uses the word memory not only
in his sense of "The power to revive, etc.,"
but also in the sense of the activities of the
mind which tend to receive and store away
the various impressions of the senses^ and the
ideas conceived by the mind, to the end that
they may be reproduced voluntarily, or in-
voluntarily, thereafter. The distinction be-
tween remembrance and recollection, as made
by Locke, is adopted as correct by The New
Psychology.

It has long been recognized that the mem-
ory, in -all of its phases, is capable of de-
velopment, culture, training and guidance
through intelligent exercise. Like any other
faculty of mind, or physical part, muscle or
limb, it may be improved and strengthened.
But until recent years, the entire efforts of
these memory-developers were directed to
the strengthening of that phase of the memory

Its Importance 15

known as "recollection," which, you will re-
member, Locke defined as an idea or impres-
sion "sought after by the mind, and with
pain and endeavor found, and brought again
into view." The New Psychology goes much
further than this. While pointing out the
most improved and scientific methods for "re-
collecting" the impressions and ideas of the
memory, it also instructs the student in the
use of the proper methods whereby the mem-
pry may be stored with clear and distinct im-
pressions which will, thereafter, flow natu-
rally and involuntarily into the field of con-
sciousness when the mind is thinking upon
the associated subject or line of thought ; and
which may also be "re-collected" by a volun-
tary effort with far less expenditure of
energy than under the old methods and
systems.

You will see this idea carried out in de-
tail, as we progress with the various stages
of the subject, in this work. You will see
that the first thing to do it to find something
to remember; then to impress that thing
clearly and distinctly upon the receptive tab-
lets of the memory; tnen to exercise tne re-

16 Memory

membranee in the direction of bringing out
the stored-away facts of the memory ; then to
acquire the scientific methods of recollecting
special items of memory that may be neces-
sary at some special time. This is the natural
method in memory cultivation, as opposed to
the artificial systems that you will find men-
tioned in another chapter. It is not only de-
velopment of the memory, but also develop-
ment of the mind itself in several of its re-
gions and phases of activity. It is not merely
a method of recollecting, but also a method
of correct seeing, thinking and remembering.
This method recognizes the truth of the verse
of the poet, Pope, who said: "Bemembrance
and reflection how allied! What thin parti-
tions sense from thought divide V*

CHAPTER II.

CULTIVATION OF THE MEMORY.

This book is written with the fundamental
intention and idea of pointing out a rational
and workable method whereby the memory
may be developed, trained and cultivated.
Many persons seem to be under the impres-
sion that memories are bestowed by nature,
in a fixed degree or possibilities, and that lit-
tle more can be done for them— in short, that
memories are born, not made. But the fallacy
of any such idea is demonstrated by the in-
vestigations and experiments of all the lead-
ing authorities, as well as by the results ob-
tained by persons who have developed and
cultivated their own memories by individual
effort without the assistance of an instructor.
But all such improvement, to be real, must
be along certain natural lines and in accor-
dance with the well established lavs of psy-
chology, instead of along artificial lines and
in defiance of psychological principles. Cul-

17

18 Memory

tivation of the memory is a far different
thing from " trick memory"/ f or feats of men-
tal legerdemain if the term is permissible.

Kay says : ' ' That the memory is capable of
indefinite improvement, there can be no man-
ner of doubt; but with regard to the means
by which this improvement is to be effected
mankind are still greatly in ignorance.' ' Dr.
Noah Porter says: "The natural as opposed
to the artificial memory depends on the rela-
tions of sense and the relations of thought,—
the spontaneous memory of the eye and the
ear availing itself of the obvious conjunctions
of objects which are furnished by space and
time, and the rational memory of those higher
combinations which the rational faculties
superinduce upon those lower. The artificial
memory proposes to substitute for the natural
and necessary relations under which all ob-
jects must present and arrange themselves,
an entirely new set of relations that are pure-
ly arbitrary and mechanical, which excite
little or no other interest than that they are
to aid us in remembering. It follows that if
the mind tasks itself to the special effort of
considering objects under these artificial re-

Cultivation of Memoky 19

lations, it will give less attention to those
which have a direct and legitimate interest
for itself." Granville says: "The defects of
most methods which have been devised and
employed for improving the memory, lies in
the fact that while they serve to impress par-
ticular subjects on the mind, they do not ren-
der the memory, as a whole, ready or atten-
tive." Fuller says: "Surely an art of mem-
ory may be made more destructive to natural
memory than spectacles are to eyes." These
opinions of the best authorities might be mul-
tiplied indefinitely— the consensus of the best
opinion is decidedly against the artificial sys-
tems, and in favor of the natural ones.

Natural systems of memory culture are
based upon the fundamental conception so
well expressed by Helvetius, several centuries
ago, when he said : ' ' The extent of the mem-
ory depends, first, on the daily use we make
of it ; secondly, upon the attention with which
we consider the objects we would impress
upon it ; and, thirdly, upon the order in which
we range our ideas." This then is the list
of the three essentials in the cultivation of
the memory: (1) Use and exercise; review

20 Memory

and practice; (2) Attention and Interest;
and (3) Intelligent Association.

You will find that in the several chapters
of this book dealing with the various phases
of memory, we urge, first, last, and all the
time, the importance of the use and employ-
ment of the memory, in the way of employ-
ment, exercise, practice and review work.
Like any other mental faculty, or physical
function, the memory will tend to atrophy
by disuse, and increase, strengthen and de-
velop by rational exercise and employment
within the bounds of moderation. You de-
velop a muscle by exercise; you train any
special faculty of the mind in the same way ;
and you must pursue the same method in the
case of the memory, if you would develop it.
Nature's laws are constant, and bear a close
analogy to each other. You will also notice
the great stress that we lay upon the use of
the faculty of attention, accompanied by in-
terest. By attention you acquire the impres-
sions that you file away in your mental rec-
ord-file of memory. And the degree of atten-
tion regulates the depth, clearness and
strength of the impression. Without a good

Cultivation of Memory 21

record, you cannot expect to obtain a good
reproduction of it. A poor phonographic
record results in a poor reproduction, and the
rule applies in the case of the memory as
well. You will also notice that we explain the
laws of association, and the principles which
govern the subject, as well as the methods
whereby the proper associations may be
made. Every association that you weld to an
idea or an impression, serves as a cross-ref-
erence in the index, whereby the thing is
found by remembrance or recollection when
it is needed. We call your attention to the
fact that one's entire education depends for
its efficiency upon this law of association. It
is a most important feature in the rational
cultivation of the memory, while at the same
time being the bane of the artificial systems.
Natural associations educate, while artificial
ones tend to weaken the powers of the mind,
if carried to any great length.

There is no Royal Road to Memory. The
cultivation of the memory depends upon the
practice along certain scientific lines accord-
ing to well established psychological laws.
Those who hope for a sure " short cut" will

22 Memoby

be disappointed, for none such exists. As
Halleck says: "The student ought not to be
disappointed to find that memory is no ex-
ception to the rule of improvement by proper
methodical and long continued exercise. There
is no royal road, no short cut, to the improve-
ment of either mind or muscle. But the stu-
dent who follows the rules which psychology
has laid down may know that he is walking
in the shortest path, and not wandering aim-
lessly about. Using these rules, he will ad-
vance much faster than those without chart,
compass, or pilot. He will find mnemonics of
extremely limited use. Improvement comes
by orderly steps. Methods that dazzle at
first sight never give solid results.' '

The student is urged to pay attention to
what we have to say in other chapters of the
book upon the subjects of attention and as-
sociation. It is not necessary to state here
the particulars that' we mention there. The
cultivation of the attention is a prerequisite
for good memory, and deficiency in this re-
spect means deficiency not only in the field
of memory but also in the general field of
mental work. In all branches of The New

Cultivation of Memoby 23

Psychology there is found a constant repeti-
tion of the injunction to cultivate the faculty
of attention and concentration. Halleck
says : "Haziness of perception lies at the root
of many a bad memory. If perception is defi-
nite, the first step has been taken toward in-
suring a good memory. If the first impres-
sion is vivid, its effect upon the brain cells is
more lasting. All persons ought to practice
their visualizing power. This will react upon
perception and make it more definite. Visual-
izing will also form a brain habit of re-
membering things pictorially, and hence more
exactly."

The subject of association must also receive
its proper share of attention, for 1 it is by
means of association that the stored away
records of the memory may be recovered or
re-collected. As Blackie says: "Nothing
helps the mind so much as order and classi-
fication. Classes are few, individuals many:
to know the class well is to know what is most
essential in the character of the individual,
and what burdens the memory least to re-
tain.' ' And as Halleck says regarding the
subject of association by relation: "When-

24 Memoby

ever we can discover any relation between
facts, it is far easier to remember them. The
intelligent law of memory may be summed
up in these words : Endeavor to link by some
thought relation each new mental acquisition
to an old one. Bind new facts to other facts
by relations of similarity, cause and effect,
whole and part, or by any logical relation,
and we shall find that when an idea occurs to
us, a host of related ideas will flow into the
mind. If we wish to prepare a speech or write
an article on any subject, pertinent illustra-
tions will suggest themselves. The person
whose memory is merely contiguous will
wonder how we think of them."

In your study for the cultivation of tire
memory, along the lines laid down in this
book, you have read the first chapter thereof
and have informed yourself thoroughly re-
garding the importance of the memory to the
individual, and what a large part it plays in
the entire work of the mind. Now carefully
read the third chapter and acquaint yourself
with the possibilities in the direction of culti-
vating the memory to a high degree, as evi-
denced by the instances related of the extreme

Cultivation of Memoey 25

case of development noted therein. Then
study the chapter on memory systems, and
realize that the only true method is the nat-
ural method, which requires work, patience
and practice— then make up your mind that
you will follow this plan as far as it will take
you. Then acquaint yourself with the secret
of memory— the subconscious region of the
mind, in which the records of memory are
kept, stored away and indexed, and in which
the little mental office-boys are busily at work.
This will give you the key to the method.
Then take up the two chapters on attention,
and association, respectively, and acquaint
yourself with these important principles.
Then study the chapter on the phases of mem-
ory, and take mental stock of yourself, deter-
mining in which phase of memory you are
strongest, and in which you need develop-
ment. Then read the two chapters on train-
ing the eye and ear, respectively— you need
this instruction. Then read over the several
chapters on the training of the special phases
of the memory, whether you need them or not
—you may find something of importance in
them. Then read the concluding chapter,

26 Memoey

which gives you some general advice and
parting instruction. Then return to the
chapters dealing with the particular phases
of memory in which you have decided to de-
velop yourself, studying the details of the
instruction carefully until you know every
point of it. Then, most important of all— get
to work. The rest is a matter of practice,
practice, practice, and rehearsal. Go back to
the chapters from time to time, and refresh
your mind regarding the details. Ke-read
each chapter at intervals. Make the book
your own, in every sense of the word, by ab-
sorbing its contents.

CHAPTER III.

CELEBRATED CASES OF MEMORY.

In order that the student may appreciate
the marvelous extent of development possible
to the memory, we have thought it advisable
to mention a number of celebrated cases, past
and present. In so doing we have no desire
to hold up these cases as worthy of imitation,
for they are exceptional and not necessary
in every-day life. We mention them merely
to show to what wonderful extent develop-
ment along these lines is possible.

In India, in the past, the sacred books were
committed to memory, and handed down from
teacher to student, for ages. And even to-day
it is no uncommon thing for the student to
be able to repeat, word for word, some volum-
inous religious work equal in extent to the
New Testament. Max Muller states that the
entire text and glossary of Panini's Sanscrit
grammar, equal in extent to the entire Bible,
were handed down orally for several centuries

27

28 Memoby

before being committed to writing. There
are Brahmins to-day who have com m itted to
memory, and who can repeat at will, the en-
tire collection of religious poems known as
the Mahabarata, consisting of over 300,000
slokas or verses. Leland states that, "the
Slavonian minstrels of the present day have
by heart with remarkable accuracy immensely
long epic poems. I have found the same
among Algonquin Indians whose sagas or
mythic legends are interminable, and yet are
committed word by word accurately. I have
heard in England of a lady ninety years of
age whose memory was miraculous, and of
which extraordinary instances are narrated
by her friends. She attributed it to the fact
that when young she had been made to learn
a verse from the Bible every day, and then
constantly review it. As her memory im-
proved, she learned more, the result being
that in the end she could repeat from memory
any verse or chapter called for in the whole
Scripture/ '

It is related that Mithridates, the ancient
warrior-king, knew the name of every soldier
in his great army, and conversed fluently in

Celebrated Cases 29

twenty-two dialects. Pliny relates that Char-
mides could repeat the contents of every
book in his large library. Hortensius, the
Roman orator, had a remarkable memory
which enabled him to retain and recollect the
exact words of his opponent's argument,
without making a single notation. On a wager,
he attended a great auction sale which lasted
over an entire day, and then called off in their
proper order every object sold, the name of
its purchaser, and the price thereof. Seneca
is said to have acquired the ability to memo-
rize several thousand proper names, and to
repeat them in the order in which they had
been given him, and also to reverse the order
and call off the list backward. He also ac-
complished the feat of listening to several
hundred persons, each of whom gave him a
verse; memorizing the same as they pro-
ceeded; and then repeating them word for
word in the exact order of their delivery—
and then reversing the process, with com-
plete success. Eusebius stated that only the
memory of Esdras saved the Hebrew Scrip-
tures to the world, for when the Chaldeans
destroyed the manuscripts Esdras was able

30 Memoby

to repeat them, word by word to the scribes,
who then reproduced them. The Moham-
medan scholars are able to repeat the entire
text of the Koran, letter perfect. Scaliger
committed the entire text of the Iliad and the
Odyssey, in three weeks. Ben Jonson is said
to have been able to repeat all of his own
works from memory, with the greatest ease.
Bulwer could repeat the Odes of Horace
from memory. Pascal could repeat the entire
Bible, from beginning to end, as well as being
able to recall any given paragraph, verse,
line, or chapter. Landor is said to have read
a book but once, when he would dispose of it,
having impressed it upon his memory, to be
recalled years after, if necessary. Byron
could recite all of his own poems. Buffon
could repeat his works from beginning to end.
Bryant possessed the same ability to repeat
his own works. Bishop Saunderson could re-
peat the greater part of Juvenal and Per-
seus, all of Tully, and all of Horace. Fedo-
sova, a Bussian peasant, could repeat over
25,000 poems, folk-songs, legends, fairy-tales,
war stories, etc., when she was over seventy

Celebrated Cases 31

years of age. The celebrated " Blind Alick,"
an aged Scottish beggar, could repeat any
verse in the Bible called for, as well as the
entire text of all the chapters and books.
The newspapers, a few years ago, contained
the accounts of a man named Clark who lived
in New York City. He is said to have been
able to give the exact presidential vote in each
State of the Union since the first election. He
could give the population in every town of
any size in the world either present or in the
past providing there was a) record of the
same. He could quote from Shakespeare for
hours at a time beginning at any given point
in any play. He could recite the entire text
of the Iliad in the original Greek.

The historical case of the unnamed Dutch-
man is known to all students of memory.
This man is said to have been able to take up
a fresh newspaper ; to read it all through, in-
cluding the advertisements; and then to re-
peat its contents, word for word, from begin-
ning to end. On one occasion he is said to
have heaped wonder upon wonder, by repeat-
ing the contents of the paper backward, be-

32 Memoby

ginning with the last word and ending with
the first. Lyon, the English actor, is said to
have duplicated this feat, using a large Lon-
don paper and including the market quota-
tions, reports of the debates in Parliament,
the railroad time-tables and the advertise-
ments. A London waiter is said to have per-
formed a similar feat, on a wager, he memor-
izing and correctly repeating the contents of
an eight-page paper. One of the most re-
markable instances of extraordinary memory
known to history is that of the child Christian
Meinecken. When less than four years of
age he could repeat the entire Bible ; two hun-
dred hymns ; five thousand Latin words ; and
much ecclesiastical history, theory, dogmas,
arguments; and an encyclopaedic quantity of
theological literature. He ia said to have
practically retained every word that was read
to him. His case was abnormal, and he died
at an early age.

John Stuart Mill is said to have acquired a
fair knowledge of Greek, at the age of three
years, and to have memorized Hume, Gibbon,
and other historians, at the age of eight.

Celebrated Cases 33

Shortly after lie mastered and memorized
Herodotus, Xenophon, some of Socrates, and
six of Plato ? s ' ' Dialogues. ' ' Bichard Porson
is said to have memorized the entire text of
Homer, Horace, Cicero, Virgil, Livy, Shake-
speare, Milton, and Gibbon. He is said to
have been able to memorize any ordinary
novel at one careful reading; and to have
several times performed the feat of memoriz-
ing the entire contents of some English
monthly review. De Eossi was able to per-
form the feat of repeating a hundred lines
from any of the four great Italian poets,
provided he was given a line at random from
their works— his hundred lines following im-
mediately after the given line. Of course this
feat required the memorizing of the entire
works of those poets, and the ability to take
up the repetition from any given point, the
latter feature being as remarkable as the
former. There have been cases of printers
being able to repeat, word for word, books
of which they had set the type. Professor
Lawson was able to teach his classes on the
Scriptures without referring to the book. He

34 Memory

claimed that if the entire stock of Bibles
were to be destroyed, lie could restore the
book entire, from his memory.

Eev. Thomas Fuller is said to have been
able to walk down a long London street, read-
ing the names of the signs on both sides ; then
recalling them in the order in which they had
been seen, and then by reversing the order.
There are many cases on record of persons
who memorized the words of every known
tongue of civilization, as well as a great num-
ber of dialects, languages, and tongues of
savage races. Bossuet had memorized the
entire Bible, and Homer, Horace and Virgil
beside. Niebuhr, the historian, was once em-
ployed in a government office, the records of
which were destroyed. He, thereupon, re-
stored the entire contents of the book of rec-
ords which he had written— all from his mem-
ory. Asa Gray knew the names of ten
thousand plants. Milton had a vocabulary
of twenty thousand words, and Shakespeare
one of twenty-five thousand. Cuvier and
Agassiz are said to have memorized lists of
several thousand species and varieties of ani-

Celebrated Cases 35

mals. Magliabechi, the librarian of Florence,
is said to have known the location of every
volume in the large library of which he was
in charge; and the complete list of works
along certain lines in all the other great libra-
ries. He once claimed that he was able to
repeat titles of over a half-million of books
in many languages, and upon many subjects.
In nearly every walk of life are to be found
persons with memories (wonderfully devel-
oped along the lines of their particular occu-
pation. Librarians possess this faculty to an
unusual degree. Skilled workers in the finer
lines of manufacture also manifest a wonder-
ful memory for the tiny parts of the manu-
factured article, etc. Bank officers have a
wonderful memory for names and faces.
Some lawyers are able to recall cases quoted
in the authorities, years after they have read
-them. Perhaps the most common, and yet
the most remarkable, instances of memoriz-
ing in one's daily work is to be found in the
cases of the theatrical profession. In some
cases members of stock companies must not
only be able to repeat the lines of the play

36 Memory

they are engaged in acting at the time, but
also the one that they are rehearsing for the
following week, and possibly the one for the
second week. And in repertoire companies
the actors are required to be "letter-perfect"
in a dozen or more plays— surely a wonderful
feat, and yet one so common that no notice
is given to it.

In some of the celebrated cases, the degree
of recollection manifested is undoubtedly ab-
normal, but in the majority of the cases it
may be seen that the result has been obtained
only by the use of natural methods and per-
sistent exercise. That wonderful memories
may be acquired by anyone who will devote
to the task patience, time and work, is a fact
generally acknowledged by all students of the
subject. It is not a gift, but something to
be won by effort and work along scientific
lines.

CHAPTER IV.

MEMORY SYSTEMS.

The subject of Memory Development is not
a new one by any means. For two thousand
years, at least, there has been much thought
devoted to the subject; many books written
thereupon; and many methods or "systems"
invented, the purpose of which has been the
artificial training of the memory. Instead of
endeavoring to develop the memory by scien-
tific training and rational practice and exer-
cise along natural lines, there seems to have
always been an idea that one could improve on
Nature's methods, and that a plan might be
devised by the use of some " trick "' the mem-
ory might be taught to give up her hidden
treasures. The law of Association has been
used in the majority of these systems, often to
a ridiculous degree. Fanciful systems have
been built up, all artificial in their character
and nature, the use of which to any great ex-
tent is calculated to result in a decrease of

37

38 Memory

the natural powers of remembrance and rec-
ollection, just as in the case of natural "aids"
to the physical system there is always found
a decrease in the natural powers. Nature
prefers to do her own work, unaided. She
may be trained, led, directed and harnessed,
but she insists upon doing the work herself,
or dropping the task. The principle of Asso-
ciation is an important one, and forms a part
of natural memory training, and should be
so used. But when pressed into service in
many of the artificial systems, the result is
the erection of a complex and unnatural
mental mechanism which is no more an im-
provement upon the natural methods, than
a wooden leg is an improvement upon the
original limb. There are many points in
some of these "systems" which may be em-
ployed to advantage in natural memory train-
ing, by divorcing them from their fantastic
rules and complex arrangement. We ask you
to run over the list of the principal "sys-
tems" with us, that you may discard the
useless material by recognizing it as such;
and cull the valuable for your own use.

Memory Systems 39

The ancient Greeks were fond of memory
systems. Simonides, the Greek poet who
lived about 500 B. C. was one of the early
authorities, and his work has influenced
nearly all of the many memory systems that
have sprung up since that time. There is a
romantic story connected with the foundation
of his system. It is related that the poet
was present at a large banquet attended by
some of the principal men of the place. He
was called out by a message from home,
and left before the close of the meal.
Shortly after he left, the ceiling of the ban-
quet hall fell upon the guests, killing all
present in the room, and mutilating their
bodies so terribly that their friends were un-
able to recognize them. Simonides, having
a well-developed memory for places and posi-
tion, was able to recall the exact order in
which each guest had been seated, and there-
fore was able to aid in the identification of
the remains. This occurrence impressed him
so forcibly that he devised a system of mem-
ory based upon the idea of position, which at-
tained great popularity in Greece, and the

&0 Memory

leading writers of the day highly recom-
mended it.

The system of Simonides was based upon
the idea of position— it was known as "the
topical system," His students were taught
to picture in the mind a large building divided
into sections, and then into rooms, halls, etc.
The thing to be remembered was ' i visualized"
as occupying some certain space or place in
that building, the grouping being made ac-
cording to association and resemblance.
When one wished to recall the things to con-
sciousness, all (that was necessary was [to
visualize the mental building and then take
an imaginary trip from room to room, calling
off the various things as they had been placed.
The Greeks thought very highly of this plan,
and many variations of it were employed.
Cicero said: "By those who would improve
the memory, certain places must be fixed
upon, and of those things which they desire
to keep in memory symbols must be conceived
in the mind and ranged, as it were, in those
places; thus, the order of places would pre-
serve the order of things, and the symbols

Memory Systems 41

of the things would denote the things them-
selves; so that we should use the places as
waxen tablets and the symbols as letters.' '
Quintillian advises students to "fix in their
minds places of the greatest possible extent,
diversified by considerable variety, such as a
]arge house, for example, divided into many
apartments. Whatever is remarkable in it is
carefully impressed on the mind, so that the
thought may run over every part of it without
hesitation or delay. . . . Places we must
have, either fancied or selected, and images
or symbols which we may invent at pleasure.
These symbols are marks by which we may
distinguish the particulars which we have to
get by heart. ' '

Many modern systems have been erected
upon the foundation of Simionides and in some
of which cases students have been charged
high prices "for the secret.' ' The following
outline given by Kay gives the " secret' ' of
many a high priced system of this class : i ' Se-
lect a number of rooms, and divide the walls
and floor of each, in imagination, into nine
equal parts or squares, three in a row. On

42 Memory

the front wall— that opposite the entrance—
of the first room, are the units ; on the right-
hand wall the tens ; on the left hand the twen-
ties; on the fourth wall the thirties; and on
the floor the forties. Numbers 10, 20, 30 and
40, each find a place on the roof above their
respective walls, while 50 occupies the centre
of the room. One room will thus furnish 50
places, and ten rooms as many as 500. Hav-
ing fixed these clearly in the mind, so as to
be able readily and at once to tell exactly the
position of each place or number, it is then
necessary to associate with each of them some
familiar object (or symbol) so that the ob-
ject being suggested its place may be instantly
remembered, or when the place be before the
mind its object may immediately spring up.
When this has been done thoroughly, the ob-
jects can be run over in any order from be-
ginning to end, or from end to beginning, or
the place of any particular one can at once be
given. All that is further necessary is to as-
sociate the ideas we wish to remember with
the objects in the various places, by which
means they are easily remembered, and can

• Memory Systems 43

be gone over in any order. In this way one
may learn to repeat several hundred discon-
nected words or ideas in any order after hear-
ing them only once." We do not consider it
necessary to argue in detail the fact that this
system is artificial and cumbersome to a great
degree. While the idea of "position" may
be employed to some advantage in grouping
together in the memory several associated
facts, ideas, or words, still the idea of employ-
ing a process such as the above in the ordin-
ary affairs of life is ridiculous, and any sys-
tem based upon it has a value only as a
curiosity, or a mental acrobatic feat.

Akin to the above is the idea underlying
many other "systems," and "secret meth-
ods"— the idea of Contiguity, in which words
are strung together by fanciful connecting
links. Feinagle describes this underlying
idea, or principle, as follows: "The recol-
lection of them is assisted by associating some
idea of relation between the two; and as we
find by experience that whatever is ludicrous
is calculated to make a strong impression on
the mind, the more ridiculous the association

44 Memoky

is the better." The systems founded upon
this idea may be employed to repeat a long
string of disconnected tarords, and similar
things,, but have but little practical value,
notwithstanding the high prices charged for
them. They serve merely as curiosities, or
methods of performing "tricks" to amuse
one's friends. Dr. Kothe, a German teacher,
about the middle of the nineteenth century
founded this last school of memory training,
his ideas serving as the foundation for many
teachers of high-priced "systems" or "secret
methods" since that time. The above descrip-
tion of Feinagle gives the key to the prin-
ciple employed. The working of the principle
is accomplished by the employment of "inter-
mediates" or "correlatives" as they are
called; for instance, the words "chimney"
and "leaf" would be connected as follows:
' ' Chimney—smoke —wood— tree— Leaf. ' '

Then there are systems or methods based
on the old principle of the "Figure Alpha-
bet," in which one is taught to remember
dates by associating them with letters or
words. For instance, one of the teachers of

Memory Systems 45

this class of systems, wished his pupils to
remember the year 1480 by the word "BiG
RaT," the capitals representing the figures
in the date. Comment is unnecessary !

The student will find that nearly all the
"systems" or "secret methods" that are be-
ing offered for sale in "courses," often at
a very high price, are merely variations, im-
provements upon, or combinations of the
three forms of artificial methods named
above. New changes are constantly being
worked on these old plans; new tunes played
on the same old instruments; new chimes
sounded from the same old bells. And the re-
sult is ever the same, in these cases— disap-
pointment and disgust. There are a few
natural systems on the market, nearly all of
which contain information and instruction
that makes them worth the price at which
they are sold. As for the others— well, judge
for yourself after purchasing them, if you so
desire.

Regarding these artificial and fanciful sys-
tems, Kay says: "All such systems for the
improvement of the memory belong to what

46 Memory

we have considered the first or lowest form
of it. They are for the most part based on
light or foolish associations which have little
foundation in nature, and are hence of little
practical utility ; and they do not tend to im-
prove or strengthen the memory as a whole.' '
Bacon says that these systems are "barren
and useless,' ' adding: "For immediately to
repeat a multitude of names or words once
repeated before, I esteem no more than rope-
dancing, antic postures, and feats of activity;
and, indeed, they are nearly the same things,
the one being the abuse of the bodily as the
other of the mental powers; and though they
may cause admiration, they cannot be highly
esteemed." And as another authority has
said: "The systems of mnemonics as
taught, are no better than crutches, useful to
those who cannot walk, but impediments and
hindrances to those who have the use of their
limbs, and who only require to exercise them
properly in order to have the full use of
them."

In this work, there shall be no attemipt to
teach any of these "trick systems" that the

[

Memory Systems 47

student may perform for the amusement of
his friends. Instead, there is only the desire
to aid in developing the power to receive im-
pressions, to register them upon the memory,
and readily to reproduce them at will, natu-
rally and easily. The lines of natural mental
action will be followed throughout. The idea
of this work is not to teach how one may per-
form "f eats' ' of memory; but, instead, to in-
struct in the intelligent and , practical use of
the memory in the affairs of every-day life
and work.

CHAPTER V.

THE SUBCONSCIOUS RECORD-FILE.

The old writers on the subject were wont to
consider the memory as a separate faculty of
[the mind, but this idea disappeared before
the advancing tide of knowledge which re-
sulted in the acceptance of the conception now
known as The New Psychology. This new
conception recognizes the existence of a vast
"out of consciousness' ' region of the mind,
one phase of which is known as the subcon-
scious mind, or the subconscious field of men-
tal activities. In this field of mentation the ac-
tivities of memory have their seat. A careful
consideration of the subject brings the cer-
tainty that the entire work of the memory is
performed in this subconscious region of the
mind. Only when the subconscious record is
represented to the conscious field, and recol-
lection or remembrance results, does the mem-
orized idea or impression emerge from the
subconscious region. An understanding of

48

Subconscious Record File 49

this fact simplifies the entire subject of the
memory, and enables us to perfect plans and
methods whereby the memory may be devel-
oped, improved and trained, by means of the
direction of the subconscious activities by the
use of the conscious faculties and the will.

Hering says: "Memory is a faculty not
only of our conscious states, but also, and
I much more so, of our unconscious ones."
; Kay says: "It is impossible to understand
the true nature of memory, or how to train
it aright, unless we have a clear conception
of the fact that there is much in the mind of
which we are unconscious. . . . The
highest form of memory, as of all the mental
powers, is the unconscious— when what we
wish to recall comes to us spontaneously,
without any conscious thought or search for
it. Frequently when we wish to recall some-
thing that has previously been in the mind
we are unable to do so by any conscious effort
of the will ; but we turn the attention to some-
thing else, and after a time the desired in-
formation comes up spontaneously when we
are not consciously thinking of it." Carpen-

50 Memory

ter says: " There is the working of a mech-
anism beneath the consciousness which, when
once set going, runs on of itself, and which
is more likely to evolve the desired result
when the conscious activity of the mind is ex-
erted in a direction altogether different."

This subconscious region of the mind is the
great record-file of everything we have ever
experienced, thought or known. Everything
is recorded there. The best authorities now
generally agree that there is no such thing as
an absolute forgetting of even the most
minute impression, notwithstanding the fact
that we may be unable to recollect or remem-
ber it, owing to its faintness, or lack of as-
sociated "indexing." It is held that every-
thing is to be found in that subconscious
index-file, if we can only manage to find its
place. Kay says: "In like manner we be-
lieve that every impression or thought that
has once been before consciousness remains
ever afterward impressed upon the mind. It
may never again come up before conscious-
ness, but it will doubtless remain in that vast
ultra-conscious region of the mind, uncon-

Subconscious Record File 51

sciously moulding and fashioning our subse-
quent thoughts and actions. It is only a small
part of what exists in the mind that we are
conscious of. There is always much that is
known to be in the mind that exists in it un-
consciously, and must be stored away some-
where. We may be able to recall it into con-
sciousness when we wish to do so; but at
other times the mind is unconscious of its ex-
istence. Further, every one's experience
must tell him that there is much in his mind
that he cannot always recall when he may
wish to do so,— much that he can recover only
after a labored search, or that he may search
for in vain at the time, but which may occur
to him afterwards when perhaps he is not
thinking about it. Again, much that we prob-
ably would never be able to recall, or that
would not recur to us under ordinary circum-
stances, we may remember to have had in the
mind when it is mentioned to us by others.
In such a case there must still have remained
some trace or scintilla of it in the mind be-
fore we could recognize it as having been
there before. "

52 Memory

Morell says: "We have every reason to
believe that mental power when once called
forth follows the analogy of everything we
see in the material universe in the fact of its
perpetuity. Every single effort of mind is a
creation which can never go back again into
nonentity. It may slumber in the depths of
f orgetf ulness as light and heat slumber in the
coal seams, but there it is, ready at the bid-
ding of some appropriate stimulus to come
again out of the darkness into the light of
consciousness/ ' Beattie says: "That which
has been long forgotten, nay, that which we
have often in vain endeavored to recollect,
will sometimes without an effort of ours occur
to us on a sudden, and, if I may so speak, of
its own accord.' ' Hamilton says: "The
mind frequently contains whole systems of
knowledge which, though in our normal state
they may have faded into absolute oblivion,
may in certain abnormal states, as madness,
delirium, somnambulism, catalepsy, etc., flash
out into luminous consciousness. . . .For
example, there are cases in which the extinct
memory of whole languages were suddenly re-

Subconscious Eecord File 53

stored.' ' Lecky says: "It is now fully es-
tablished that a multitude of events which
are so completely forgotten that no effort of
the will can revive them, and that the state-
ment of them calls up no reminiscences, may
nevertheless be, so to speak, embedded in the
memory, and may be reproduced with intense
vividness under certain physical conditions/ '
In proof of the above, the authorities give
many instances recorded in scientific annals.
Coleridge relates the well-known case of the
old woman who could neither read nor write,
who when in the delirium of fever incessantly
recited in very pompous tones long passages
from the Latin, Greek and Hebrew, with a
distinct enunciation and precise rendition.
Notes of her ravings were taken down by
shorthand, and caused much wonderment,
until it was afterwards found that in her
youth she had been employed as a servant in
the house of a clergyman who was in the habit
of walking up and down in his study reading
aloud from his favorite classical and relig-
ious writers. In his books were found marked
passages corresponding to the notes taken

54 Memory

from the girl's ravings. Her subconscious
memory had stored up the sounds of these
passages heard in her early youth, but of
which she had no recollection in her normal
state. Beaufort, describing his sensations
just before being rescued from drowning
says: " Every incident of my former life
seemed to glance across my recollection in a
retrograde procession, not in mere outline,
but in a picture filled with every minute and
collateral feature, thus forming a panoramic
view of my whole existence. ' '

Kay truly observes: "By adopting the
opinion that every thought or impression that
had once been consciously before the mind is
ever afterwards retained, we obtain light on
many obscure mental phenomena ; and especi-
ally do we draw from it the conclusion of the
perfectibility of the memory to an almost
unlimited extent. We cannot doubt that,
could we penetrate to the lowest depths of
our mental nature, we should there find traces
of every impression we have received, every
thought we have entertained, and every act
we have done through our past life, each one

Subconscious Eecoed File 55

making its influence felt in the way of build-
ing up our present knowledge, or in guiding
our every-day actions ; and if they persist in
the mind, might it not be possible to recall
most if not all of them into consciousness
when we wished to do so, if our memories or
powers of recollection were what they should
be!"

As we have said, this great subconscious
region of the mind— this Memory region-
may be thought of as a great record file, with
an intricate system of indexes, and office
boys whose business it is to file away the
records ; to index them ; and to find them when
needed. The records record only what we have
impressed upon them by the attention, the de-
gree of depth and clearness depending en-
tirely upon the degree of attention which we
bestowed upon the original impression. We
can never expect to have the office boys of
the memory bring up anything that they have
not been given to file away. The indexing,
and cross-references are supplied by the as-
sociation existing between the various im-
pressions. The more cross-references, or as-

56 Memoby

sociations that are connected with an idea,
thought or impression that is filed away in the
memory, the greater the chances of it being
found readily when wanted. These two fea-
tures of attention and association, and the
parts they play in the phenomena of memory,
are mentioned in detail in other chapters of
this book.

These little office boys of the memory are
an industrious and willing lot of little chaps,
but like all boys they do their best work when
kept in practice. Idleness and lack of exer-
cise cause them to become slothful and care-
less, and forgetful of the records under their
charge. A little fresh exercise and work soon
take the cobwebs out of their brains, and they
spring eagerly to their tasks. They become
familiar with their work when exercised prop-
erly, and soon become very expert. They
have a tendency to remember, on their own
part, and when a certain record is called for
often they grow accustomed to its place, and
can find it without referring to the indexes
at all. But their trouble comes from faint
and almost illegible records, caused by poor

Subconscious Record File 57

attention— these they can scarcely decipher
when they do succeed in finding them. Lack
of proper indexing by associations causes
them much worry and extra work, and some-
times they are unable to find the records at
all from this neglect. Often, however, after
they have told you that they could not find
a thing, and you have left the place in dis-
gust, they will continue their search and
hours afterward will surprise you by handing
you the desired idea, or impression, which
they had found carelessly indexed or improp-
erly filed away. In these chapters you will be
helped, if you will carry in your mind these
little office boys of the memory record file,
and the hard work they have to do for you,
much of which is made doubly burdensome by
your own neglect and carelessness. Treat
these little fellows right and they will work
overtime for you, willingly and joyfully. But
they need your assistance and encourage-
ment, and an occasional word of praise and
commendation.

CHAPTER VI.

ATTENTION.

As we have seen in the preceding chapters,
before one can expect to recall or remember a
thing, that thing must have been impressed
upon the records of his subconsciousness, dis-
tinctly and clearly. And the main factor of
the recording of impressions is that quality
of the mind that we call Attention. All the
leading authorities on the subject of memory
recognize and teach the value of attention in
{the cultivation and development of the mem-
ory. Tupper says: "Memory, the daughter
of Attention, is the teeming mother of wis-
dom. ' 9 Lowell says : i ' Attention is the stuff
that Memory is made of, and Memory is ac-
cumulated Genius." Hall says: "In the
power of fixing the attention lies the most
precious of the intellectual habits.' ' Locke
says : "When the ideas that offer themselves
are taken notice of, and, as it were, registered
in the memory, it is Attention." Stewart

58

Attention 59

says: "The permanence of the impression
which anything leaves on the memory, is
proportionate to the degree of attention which
was originally given to it." Thompson says :
"The experiences most permanently im-
pressed upon consciousness are those upon
which the greatest amount of attention has
been fixed." Beattie says: "The force
wherewith anything strikes the mind is gen-
erally in proportion to the degree of atten-
tion bestowed upon it. The great art of mem-
ory is attention. . • . Inattentive people
have always bad memories." Kay says: "It
is generally held by philosophers that with-
out some degree of attention no impression
of any duration could be made on the mind,
or laid up in the memory." Hamilton says:
"It is a law of the mind that the intensity of
the present consciousness determines the vi-
vacity of the future memory; memory and
consciousness are thus in the direct ratio of
each other. Vivid consciousness, long mem-
ory; faint consciousness, short memory; no
consciousness, no memory. . . . An act
of attention, that is an act of concentration,

60 Memoby

seems thus necessary to every exertion of
consciousness, as a certain contraction of the
pupil is requisite to every exertion of vision.
Attention, then, is to consciousness what the
contraction of the pupil is to sight, or to the
eye of the mind what the microscope or tele-
scope is to the bodily eye. It constitutes the
better half of all intellectual power.' '

We have quoted from the above authorities
at considerable length, for the purpose of im-
pressing upon your mind the importance of
this subject of Attention. The subconscious
regions of the mind are the great storehouses
of the mental records of impressions from
within and without. Its great systems of fil-
ing, recording and indexing these records con-
stitute that which we call memory. But be-
fore any of this work is possible, impressions
must first have been received. And, as you
may see from the quotations just given, these
impressions depend upon the power of atten-
tion given to the things making the impres-
sions. If there has been given great atten-
tion, there will be clear and deep impressions ;
if there has been given but average attention,

Attention 61

there will be but average impressions; if
there has been given but faint attention, there
will be but faint impressions; if there has
been given no attention, there will be no rec-
ords. \

One of the most common causes of poor J^\
attention is to be found in the lack of interest.
We are apt to remember the things in which
we have been most interested, because in that
outpouring of interest there has been a high
degree of attention manifested. A man may
have a very poor memory for many things,
but when it comes to the things in which his
interest is involved he often remembers the
most minute details. What is called involun-
tary attention is that form of attention that
follows upon interest, curiosity, or desire-
no special effort of the will being required in
it. What is called voluntary attention is that
form of attention that is bestowed upon ob-
jects not necesarily interesting, curious, or
attractive— this requires the application of
the will, and is a mark of a developed charac-
ter. Every person has more or less involun-
tary attention, while but few possess devel-

62 Memory

oped voluntary attention. The former is in-
stinctive—the latter comes only by practice
and training.

But there is this important point to be re-
membered, that interest may be developed by
voluntary attention bestowed and held upon
an object. Things that are originally lack-
ing in sufficient interest to attract the invol-
untary attention may develop a secondary
interest if the voluntary attention be placed
upon and held upon them. As Halleck says
on this point: "When it is said that atten-
tion will not take a firm hold on an uninterest-
ing thing, we must not forget that anyone
not shallow and fickle can soon discover some-
thing interesting in most objects. Here cul-
tivated minds show their especial superiority,
for the attention which they are able to give
generally ends in finding a pearl in the most
uninteresting looking oyster. When an ob-
ject necessarily loses interest from one point
of view, such minds discover in it new at-
tributes. The essence of genius is to present
an old thing in new ways, whether it be some
force in nature or some aspect of humanity."

Attention 63

It is very difficult to teach another person
how to cultivate the attention. This because
the whole thing consists so largely in the use
of the will, and by faithful practice and per-
sistent application. The first requisite is the
determination to use the will. You must argue
it out with yourself, until you become con-
vinced that it is necessary and desirable for
you to acquire the art of voluntary attention
—you must convince yourself beyond reason-
able doubt. This is the first step and one
more difficult than it would seem at first sight.
The principal difficulty in it lies in the fact
that to do the thing you must do some active
earnest thinking, and the majority of people
are too lazy to indulge in such mental effort.
Having mastered this first step, you must
induce a strong burning desire to acquire the
art of voluntary attention— you must learn
to want it hard. In this way you induce a
condition of interest and attractiveness where
it was previously lacking. Third and last,
you must hold your will firmly and persist-
ently to the task, and practice faithfully.

Begin by turning your attention upon some

64 Memory

uninteresting thing and studying its details
until you are able to describe them. This
fwill prove very tiresome at first but you must
stick to it. Do not practice too long at a time
at first; take a rest and try it again later. You
will soon find that it comes easier, and that
a new interest is beginning to manifest itself
in the task. Examine this book, as practice,
learn how many pages there are in it; how
many chapters; how many pages in each
chapter; the details of type, printing and
binding— all the little things about it— so
that you could give another person a full ac-
count of the minor details of the book. This
may seem uninteresting— and so it will be at
first— but a little practice will create a new
interest in the petty details, and you will be
surprised at the number of little things that
you will notice. This plan, practiced on many
things, in spare hours, will develop the power
of voluntary attention and perception in any-
one, no matter how deficient he may have
been in these things. If you can get some one
else to join in the game-task with you, and
then each endeavor to excel the other in find-

Attention 65

ing details, the task will be much easier, and
better work will be accomplished. Begin to
take notice of things about you; the places
you visit; the things in the rooms, etc. In
this way you will start the habit of "noticing
things, ' 9 which is the first requisite for mem-
ory development.

Halleck gives the following excellent advice
on this subject: "To look at a thing intel-
ligently is the most difficult of all arts. The
first rule for the cultivation of accurate per-
ception is : Do not try to perceive the whole
of a complex object at once. Take the human
face as an example. A man, holding an im-
portant position to which he had been elected,
offended many people because he could not
remember faces, and hence failed to recog-
nize individuals the second time he met them.
His trouble was in looking at the countenance
as a whole. When he changed his method of
observation, and noticed carefully the nose,
mouth, eyes, chin, and color of hair, he at
once began to find recognition easier. He was
no longer in difficulty of mistaking A for B,
since he remembered that the shape of B's

66 Memory

nose was different, or the color of his hair at
least three shades lighter. This example
shows that another rale can be formulated :
Pay careful attention to details. We are per-
haps asked to give a minute description of
the exterior of a somewhat noted suburban
house that we have lately seen. We reply in
general terms, giving the size and color of
the house. Perhaps we also have an idea of
part of the material used in the exterior con-
struction. We are asked to be exact about the
shape of the door, porch, roof, chimneys and
[windows; whether the windows are plain or
circular, whether they have cornices, or
whether the trimmings around them: are of
the same material as the rest of the house. A!
friend, who will be unable to see the house,
wishes to know definitely about the angles of
the roof, and the way the windows are ar-
ranged with reference to them. Unless we
can answer these questions exactly, we merely
tantalize our friends by telling them we have
seen the house. To see an object merely as
an undiscriminated mass of something in a
certain place, is to do no more than a donkey
accomplishes as he trots along."

Attention 67

There are three general rules that may be
given in this matter of bestowing the volun-
tary attention in the direction of actually
seeing things, instead of merely looking at
them. The first is : Make yourself take an
interest in the thing. The second: See it
as if you were taking note of it in order to
repeat its details to a friend— this will force
you to "take notice.' ' The third: Give to
your subconsciousness a mental command to
take note of what you are looking at— say to
it; "Here, you take note of this and remem-
ber it for me !" This last consists of a pecu-
liar "knack" that can be attained by a little
practice— it will "come to you" suddenly
after a few trials.

Regarding this third rule whereby the sub-
consciousness is made to work for you,
Charles Leland has the following to say, al-
though he uses it to illustrate another point :
"As I understand it, it is a kind of impulse or
projection of will into the coming work. I may
here illustrate this with a curious fact in
physics. If the reader wished to ring a door-
bell so as to produce as much sound as pos-

68 Memory

sible, he would probably pull it as far back
as he could, and then let it go. But if he
would, in letting it go, simply give it a tap
with his forefinger, he would! actually re-
double the sound. Or, to shoot an arrow as
far as posible, it is not enough to merely
draw the bow to its utmost span or tension.
If, just as it goes, you will give the bow a
quick push, though the effort be trifling, the
arrow will fly almost as far again as it would
have done without it. Or, if, as is well known
in wielding a very sharp sabre, we make the
draw cut; that is, if to the blow or chop, as
with an axe, we also add a certain slight
pull, simultaneously, we can cut through a
silk handkerchief or a sheep. Forethought
(command to the subconsciousness) is the
tap on the bell; the push on the bow; the
draw on the sabre. It is the deliberate but
yet rapid action of the mind when before
dismissing thought, we bid the mind to con-
sequently respond. It is more than merely
thinking what we are to do ; it is the bidding
or ordering the Self to fulfill a task before
willing it."

Attention 69

Remember first, last and always, that be-
fore you can remember, or recollect, you must
first perceive; and that perception is possible
only through attention, and responds in de-
gree to the later. Therefore, it has truly been
said that : ' ' The great Art of Memory is At-
tention."

CHAPTEB VII.

ASSOCIATION.

In the preceding chapters we have seen
that in order that a thing may be remembered,
it must be impressed clearly upon the mind in
the first place ; and that in order to obtain a
clear impression there must be a manifesta-
tion of attention. So much for the recording
of the impressions. But when we come to
recalling, recollecting or remembering the im-
pressions we are brought face to face with an-
other important law of memory— the law of
Association. Association plays a part anal-
ogous to the indexing and cross-indexing of a
book ; a library ; or another system in which
the aim is to readily find something that has
been filed away, or contained in some way
in a collection of similar things. As Kay says :
"In order that what is in the memory may be
recalled or brought again before conscious-
ness, it is necessary that it be regarded in con-
nection, or in association with one or more

70

Association 71

other things or ideas, and as a rule the greater
the number of other things with which it is
associated the greater the likelihood of its
recall. The two processes are involved in
every act of memory. We must first impress,
and then we must associate. Without a clear
impression being formed, that which is re-
called will be indistinct and inaccurate; and
unless it is associated with something else in
the mind, it cannot be recalled. If we may
suppose an idea existing in the mind by itself,
unconnected with any other idea, its recall
would be impossible.' '

All the best authorities recognize and teach
the importance of this law of association, in
connection with the memory. Abercombie
says: "Next to the effect of attention is the
remarkable influence produced upon memory
by association. ' 9 Carpenter says: "The re-
cording power of memory mainly depends
upon the degree of attention we give to the
idea to be remembered. The reproducing
power again altogether depends upon the na-
ture of the associations by which the new
idea has been linked on to other ideas which

72 Memoby

have been previously recorded." Ribot says:
"The most fundamental law which regulates
psychological phenomena is the law of asso-
ciation. In its comprehensive character it
is comparable to the law of attraction in the
physical world." Mill says: "That which
the law of gravitation is to astronomy ; that
which the elementary properties of the tis-
sues are to physiology ; the law of association
of ideas is to psychology." Stewart says:
1 i The connection between memory and the a&-
sociation of ideas is so striking that it has
been supposed by some that the whole of the
phenomena might be resolved into this prin-
ciple. The association of ideas connects our
various thoughts with each other, so as to
present them to the mind in a certain order ;
but it presupposes the existence of those
thoughts in the mind,— in other words it pre-
supposes a faculty of retaining the knowl-
edge which we acquire. On the other hand,
it is evident that without the associating prin-
ciple, the power of retaining our thoughts,
and of recognizing them when they occur to
us, would have been of little use; for the

Association 73

most important articles of our knowledge
might have remained latent in the mind, even
when those occasions presented themselves to
which they were immediately applicable."

Association of ideas depends upon two
principles known, respectively, as (1) the law
of contiguity; and (2) the law of similarity.
Association by contiguity is that form of asso-
ciation by which an idea is linked, connected,
or associated with ,the sensation, thought, or
idea immediately preceding it, and that which
directly follows it. Each idea, or thought, is
a link in a great chain of thought being con-
nected with the preceding link and the suc-
ceeding link. Association by similarity is
that form of association by which an idea,
thought, or sensation is linked, connected, or
associated with ideas, thoughts, or sensations
of a similar kind, which have occurred pre-
viously or subsequently. The first form of
association is the relation of sequence— the
second the relation of kind.

Association by contiguity is the great law
of thought, as well as of memory. As Kay
says: "The great law of mental association

74 Memory

is that of contiguity, by means of which sen-
sations and ideas that have been in the mind
together or in close succession, tend to unite
together, or cohere in such a way that the
one can afterward recall the other. The con-
nection that naturally subsists between a sen-
sation or idea in the mind, and that which
immediately preceded or followed it, is of the
strongest and most intimate nature. The
two, strictly speaking, are but one, forming
one complete thought.' ' As Taine says: "To
speak correctly, there is no isolated or sepa-
rate sensation. A sensation is a state which
begins as a continuation of preceding ones,
and ends by losing itself in those following
it ; it is by an arbitrary severing, and for the
convenience of language, that we set it apart
as we do ; its beginning is the end of another,
and its ending the beginning of another.' '
As Eibot says: "When we read or hear a
sentence, for example, at the commencement
of the fifth word something of the fourth
word still remains. Association by contiguity
may be separated into two sub-classes— con-
tiguity in time; and contiguity in space. In

Association 75

contiguity in time there is manifested the
tendency of the memory to recall the im-
pressions in the same order in which they
were received— the first impression suggest-
ing the second, and that the third, and so on.
In this way the child learns to repeat the
alphabet, and the adult the succeeding lines
of a poem. As Priestly says: "In a poem,
the end of each preceding word being con-
nected with the beginning of the succeeding
one, we can easily repeat them in that order,
but we are not able to repeat them backwards
till they have been frequently named in that
order. Memory of words, or groups of words,
depends upon this form of contigious asso-
ciation. Some persons are able to repeat long
poems from beginning to end, with perfect
ease, but are unable to repeat any particular
sentence, or verse, without working down to
it from the beginning. Contiguity in space is
manifested in forms of recollection or remem-
brance by " position.' ' Thus by remember-
ing the things connected with the position of
a particular thing, we are enabled to recall
the thing itself. As we have seen in a pre-

76 Memory

ceding chapter, some forms of memory sys-
tems have been based on this law. If you will
recall some house or room in which
you have been, you will find that you will
remember one object after another, in the
order of the relative positions, or contiguity
in space, or position. Beginning with the
front hall, you may travel in memory from
one room to another, recalling each with the
objects it contains, according to the degree of
attention you bestowed upon them originally.
Kay says of association by contiguity: "It
is on this principle of contiguity that mne-
monical systems are constructed, as when
what we wish to remember is associated in
the mind with a certain object or locality, the
ideas associated will at once come up; or
when each word or idea is associated with the
one immediately preceding it, so that when
the one is recalled the other comes up along
with it, and thus long lists of names or long
passages of books can be readily learnt by
heart.' '

From the foregoing, it will be seen that it
is of great importance that we correlate our

Association 77

impressions with those preceding and follow-
ing. The more closely knitted together our
impressions are, the more closely will they
cohere, and the greater will be the facility of
remembering or recollecting them. We
should endeavor to form our impressions of
things so that they will be associated with
other impressions, in time and space. Every
other thing that is associated in the mind with
a given thing, serves as a "loose end" of
memory, which if once grasped and followed
up will lead us to the thing we desire to re-
call to mind.

Association by similarity is the linking to-
gether of impressions of a similar kind, ir-
respectve of time and place. Carpenter ex-
presses it as follows : i i The law of similarity
expresses the general fact that any present
state of consciousness tends to revive pre-
vious states which are similar to it. . . .
Rational or philosophical association is when
a fact or statement on which the attention is
fixed is associated with some fact previously
known, to which it has a relation, or with
some subject which it is calculated to illus-

78

Memory

trate." And as Kay says: "The similars
may be widely apart in space or in time, but
they are brought together aiid associated
through their resemblance to each other.
Thus, a circumstance of to-day may recall
circumstances of a similar nature that oc-
curred perhaps at very different times, and
they will become associated together in the
mind, so that afterwards the presence of one
will tend to recall the others." Abercrombie
says of this phase of association: "The habit
of correct association— that is, connecting
facts in the mind according to their true re-
lations, and to the manner in which they tend
to illustrate each other, is one of the principle
means of improving the memory, particularly
that kind of memory which is an essential
quality of a cultivated mind— namely, that
which is founded not upon incidental connec-
tions, but on true and important relations."
As Beattie says: "The more relations or
likenesses that we find or can establish be-
tween objects, the more easily will the view
of one lead us to recollect the rest." And as
Kay says: "In order to fix a thing in the

Association 79

memory, we must associate it with something
in the mind already, and the more closely
that which we wish to remember resembles
that with which it is associated, the better is
it fixed in the memory, and the more readily
is it recalled. If the two strongly resemble
each other, or are not to be distinguished
from each other, then the association is of the
strongest kind. . . . The memory is able
to retain and replace a vastly greater number
of ideas, if they are associated or arranged on
some principle of similarity, than if they are
presented merely as isolated facts. It is not
by the multitude of ideas, but the want of ar-
rangement among them, that the memory is
burdened and its powers weakened.' ' As
Arnott says: "The ignorant man may be
said to have charged his hundred hooks of
knowledge (to use a rude simile), with single
objects, while the informed man makes each
hook support a long chain to which thousands
of kindred and useful things are attached.' '
We ask each student of this book to ac-
quaint himself with the general idea of the
working features of the law of association as

80 Memory

given in this chapter for the reason that
much of the instruction to be given under the
head of the several phases and classes of
memory is based upon an application of the
Law of Association, in connection with the law
of Attention. These fundamental principles
should be clearly grasped before one proceeds
to the details of practice and exercise. One
should know not only "how" to use the mind
and memory in certain ways, but also "why"
it is to be used in that particular way. By
understanding the "reason of it," one is bet-
ter able to follow out the directions.

CHAPTER VIII.

PHASES OF MEMORY.

One of the first things apt to be noticed
by the student of memory is the fact that
there are several different phases of the man-
ifestation of memory. That is to say, that
there are several general classes into which
the phenomena of memory may be grouped.
And accordingly we find some persons quite
highly developed in certain phases of mem-
ory, and quite deficient in others. If there
were but one phase or class of memory, then
a person who had developed his memory
along any particular line would have at the
same time developed it equally along all the
other lines. But this is far from being the
true state of affairs. We find men who are
quite proficient in recalling the impression
of faces, while they find it very difficult to re-
call the names of the persons whose faces
they remember. Others can remember faces,
and not names. Others have an excellent

81

82 Memory

recollection of localities, while others are con-
stantly losing themselves. Others remember
dates, prices, numbers, and figures generally,
while deficient in other forms of recollection.
Others remember tales, incidents, anecdotes
etc., while forgetting other things. And so
on, each person being apt to possess a mem-
ory good in some phases, while deficient in
others.

The phases of memory may be divided into
itwo general classes, namely (1) Memory of
Sense Impressions; and (2) Memory of Ideas.
This classification is somewhat arbitrary, for
the reason that sense impressions develop
into ideas, and ideas are composed to a con-
siderable extent of sense impressions, but in
a general way the classification serves its
purpose, which is the grouping together of
certain phases of the phenomena of memory.

Memory of Sense Impressons of course in-
cludes the impressions received from all of
the five senses: sight; hearing; taste; touch;
and smell. But when we come down to a prac-
tical examination of sense impressions re«
tained in the memory, we find that the ma-

Phases of Memory 83

jority of such impressions are those obtained
through the two respective senses of sight
and hearing. The impressions received from
the sense of taste, touch and smell, respec-
tively, are comparatively small, except in
the cases of certain experts in special lines,
whose occupation consists in acquiring a very
delicate sense of taste, smell or touch, and
correspondingly a fine sense of memory along
these particular lines. For instance, the
wine-taster and tea-tasters, who are able to
distinguish between the various grades of
merchandise handled by them, have developed
not only very fine senses of taste and smell,
but also a remarkable memory of the impres-
sions previously received, the power of dis-
crimination depending as much upon the
memory as upon the special sense. In the
same way the skilled surgeon as well as the
skilled mechanic acquires a fine sense of touch
and a correspondingly highly developed mem-
ory of touch impressions.

But, as we have said, the greater part of
the sense impressions stored away in our
memories are those previously received

84 Memory

through the senses of sight and hearing, re-
spectively. The majority of sense impres-
sions, stored away in the memory, have been
received more or less involuntarily, that is
with the application of but a slight degree of
attention. They are more or less indistinct
and hazy, and are recalled with difficulty, the
remembrance of them generally coming about
without conscious effort, according to the law
of association. That is, they come princi-
pally when we are thinking about something
else upon which we have given thought and
attention, and with which they have been as-
sociated. There is quite a difference be-
tween the remembrance of sense impressions
received in this way, and those which we
record by the bestowal of attention, interest
and concentration.

The sense impressions of sight are by far
the most numerous in our subconscious store-
house. We are constantly exercising our
sense of sight, and receiving thousands of
different sight impressions every hour. But
the majority of these impressions are but
faintly recorded upon the memory, because

Phases of Memory 85

we give to them but little attention or interest.
But it is astonishing, at times, when we find
that when we recall some important event or
incident we also recall many faint sight im-
pressions of which we did not dream we had
any record. To realize the important part
played by sight impressions in the phenomena
of memory, recall some particular time or
event in your life, and see how many more
things that you saw are remembered, com-
pared with the number of things that yon
heard, or tasted, or felt or smelled.

Second in number* however, are the im-
pressions received through the sense of heap-
ing, and consequently the memory stores
away a great number of sound impressions.
In some cases the impressions of sight and
sound are joined together, as for instance in
the case of words, in which not only the sound
but the shape of the letters composing the
word, or rather the word-shape itself, are
stored away together, and consequently are
far more readily remembered or recollected
than things of which but one sense impres-
sion is recorded. Teachers of memory use

86 Memoky

this fact as a means of helping their students
to memorize words by speaking them aloud,
and then writing them down. Many persons
memorize names in this way, the impression
of the written word being added to the im-
pression of the sound, thus doubling the
record. The more impressions that you can
\ make regarding a thing, the greater are the
chances of your easily recollecting it. Like-
wise it is very important to attach an impres-
sion of a weaker sense, to that of a stronger
one, in order that the former may be memor-
ized. For instance, if you have a good eye
memory, and a poor ear memory, it is well to
attach your sound impressions to the sight
impressions. !And if you have a poor eye
memory, and a good ear memory it is impor-
tant to attach your sight impressions to your
sound impressions. In this way you take ad-
vantage of the law of association, of which
we have told you.

Under the sub-class of sight impressions,
are found the smaller divisions of memory
known as memory of locality ; memory of fig-
ures ; memory of form ; memory of color; and

Phases of Memory 87

memory of written or printed words. Under
the sub-class of sound impressions are found
the smaller divisions of memory known as
memory of spoken words ; memory of names ;
memory of stories; memory of music, etc.
We shall pay special attention to these forms
of memory, in succeeding chapters.

The second general class of memory,—
memory of ideas,— includes the memory of
facts, events, thoughts, lines of reasoning,
etc., and is regarded as higher in the scale
than the memory of sense impressions, al-
though not more necessary nor useful to the
average person. This form of memory of
course accompanies the higher lines of intel-
lectual effort and activities, and constitutes
a large part of what is known as true educa-
tion, that is education which teaches one to
think instead of to merely memorize certain
things taught in books or lectures.

The well-rounded man, mentally, is he who
has developed his memory on all sides, rather
than the one who has developed but one spe-
cial phase of the faculty. It is true that a
man's interest and occupation certainly tend

88 Memoey

to develop his memory according to his daily
needs and requirements, but it is well that
he should give to the other parts of his mem-
ory field some exercise, in order that he may
not grow one-sided. As Halleck has said:
"Many persons think that memory is mainly
due to sight; but we have as many different
kinds of memory as we have) senses. To
sight, the watermelon is a long greenish body,
but this is its least important quality. Sight
alone gives the poorest idea of the water-
melon. We approach the vine where the fruit
is growing, and in order to decide whether it
is ripe, we tap the rind and judge by the
sound. We must remember that a ripe water-
melon has a certain resonance. By passing
our hands over the melon, we learn that it
has certain touch characteristics. We cut it
open and learn the qualities of taste and
smell. All this knowledge afforded by the dif-
ferent senses must enter into a perfected
memory image. Hence we see that many
complex processes go to form an idea of a
thing. Napoleon was not content with only
hearing a name. He wrote it down, and hav-

Phases of Memory 89

ing satisfied his eye memory as well as his
ear memory, he threw the paper away."

In this book we shall point out the methods
and processes calculated to round out the
memory of the student. As a rule his strong
phases of memory need but little attention,
although even in these a little scientific know-
ledge will be of use. But in the weaker phases,
those phases in which his memory is "poor,"
he should exert a new energy and activity, to
the end that these weaker regions of the mem-
ory may be cultivated and fertilized, and well
stored with the seed impressions, which will
bear a good crop in time. There is no phase,
field, or class of memory that is not capable
of being highly developed by intelligent appli-
cation. It requires practice, exercise and
work— but the reward is great. Many a man
is handicapped by being deficient in certain
phases of memory, while proficient in others.
The remedy is in his own hands, and we feel
that in this book we have given to each the
means whereby he may acquire a "good"
memory along any or all lines.

CHAPTER IX.

TRAINING THE EYE.

Before the memory can be stored with sight
impressions— before the mind can recollect
or remember such impressions— the eye must
be used under the direction of the attention.
We think that we see things when we look at
them, but in reality we see but few things, in
the sense of registering clear and distinct im-
pressions of them upon the tablets of the sub-
conscious mind. We look at them rather than
see them.

Halleck says regarding this ' l sight without
seeing' ' idea: " A body may be imaged on the
retina without insuring perception. There
must be an effort to concentrate the attention
upon the many things which the world pre-
sents to our senses. A man once said to the
pupils of a large school, all of whom had
seen cows : 'I should like to find out how many
of vou know whether a cow's ears are above,
below, behind, or in front of her horns. I

90

Training the Eye 91

want only those pupils to raise their hands
who are sure about the position and who will
promise to give a dollar to charity if they an-
swer wrong. ' Only two hands were raised.
Their owners had drawn cows and in order
to do that had been forced to concentrate their
attention upon the anim&ls. Fifteen pupils
were sure that they had seen cats climb trees
and descend them. There was unanimity of
opinion that the cats went up heads first.
When asked whether the cats came down
head or tail first, the majority were sure that
the cats descended as they were never known
to do. Any one who had ever noticed the
shape of the claws of any beast of prey could
have answered the question without seeing
an actual descent. Farmers ' boys who have
often seen cows and horses lie down and rise,
are seldom sure whether the animals rise
with their fore or hind feet first, or whether
the habit of the horse agrees with that of the
cow in this respect. The elm tree has about
its leaf a peculiarity which all ought to notice
the first time they see it, and yet only about
five per cent of a certain school could incor-
porate in a drawing this peculiarity, although

92 Memoby

it is so easily outlined on paper. Perception,
to achieve satisfactory results, must summon
the will to its aid to concentrate the attention.
Only the smallest part of what falls upon our
senses at any time is actually perceived/ '

The way to train the mind to receive clear
sight-impressions, and therefore to retain
them in the memory is simply to concentrate
the will and attention upon objects of sight,
endeavoring to see them plainly and distinct-
ly, and then to practice recalling the details
of the object some time afterward. It is aston-
ishing how rapidly one may improve in
this respect by a little practice. And it is
amazing how great a degree of proficiency
in this practice one may attain in a short
time. You have doubtless heard the old story
of Houdin, the French conjurer, who culti-
vated his memory of sight impressions by fol-
lowing a simple plan. He started in to prac-
tice by observing the number of small objects
in the Paris shop windows he could see and
remember in one quick glance as he rapidly
walked past the window. He followed the
plan of noting down on paper the things, that
lie saw and remembered. At first he could

Training the Eye 93

remember but two or three articles in the
window. Then he began to see and remember
more, and so on, each day adding to his power
of perception and memory, until finally he
was able to see and remember nearly every
small article in a large shop window, after be-
stowing but one glance upon it. Others have
found this plan an excellent one, and have de-
veloped their power of perception greatly,
and at the same time cultivated an amazingly
retentive memory of objects thus seen. It is
all a matter of use and practice. The experi-
ment of Houdin may be varied infinitely, with
excellent results.

The Hindus train their children along these
lines, by playing the " sight game" with
them. This game is played by exposing to
the sight of the children a number of small
objects, at which they gaze intently, and which
are then withdrawn from their sight. The
children then endeavor to excel each other in
writing down the names of the objects which
they have seen. The number of objects is
small to begin with, but is increased each day,
until an astonishing number are perceived
and remembered.

94 Memoby

Budyard Kipling in his great book, ' ' Kim, ' *
gives an instance of this game, played by
"Kim" and a trained native youth. Lurgan
Sahib exposes to the sight of the two boys a
tray filled with jewels and gems, allowing
them to gaze upon it a few moments before it
is withdrawn from sight. Then the competi-
tion begins, as follows: " c There are under
that paper five blue stones, one big, one
smaller, and three small,' said Kim in all
haste. There are four green stones, and one
with, a hole in it; there is one yellow stone
that I can see through, and one like a pipe
stem. There are two red stones, and— and—
give me time.' " But Kim had reached the
limit of his powers. Then came the turn of
the native boy. " 'Hear my count/ cried the
native child. l First are two flawed sapphires,
one of two ruttes and one of four, as I should
judge. The four rutte sapphire is chipped at
the edge. There is one Turkestan turquoise,
plain with green veins, and there are two in-
scribed—one with the name of God in gilt,
and the other being cracked across, for it
came out of an old ring, I cannot read. We
have now the five blue stones; four flamed

Training the Eye 95

emeralds there are, but one is drilled in two
places, and one is a little carven.' ' Their
weight V said Lurgan Sahib, impassively.
* Three— five— five and four ruttees, as I judge
it. There is one piece of old greenish amber,
and a cheap cut topaz from Europe, There
is one ruby of Burma, one of two ruttees,
without a flaw. And there is a ballas ruby,
flawed, of two ruttees. There is a carved
ivory from China, representing a rat sucking
an egg -j and there is last— Ah— ha!— a ball
of crystal as big as a bean set in gold leaf/ "
Kim is mortified at his bad beating, and asks
the secret. The answer is : " By doing it many
times over, till it is done perfectly, for it is
worth doing.' '

Many teachers have followed plans similar
to that just related. A number of small arti-
cles are exposed, and the pupils are trained
to see and remember them, the process being
gradually made more and more difficult. A
well known American teacher was in the
habit of rapidly making a number of dots on
the blackboard, and then erasing them before
the pupils could count them in the ordinary
way. The children then endeavored to count

96 Memory

their mental impressions, and before long
they could correctly name the number up to
ten or more, with ease. They said they could
"see six," or "see ten," as the case may be,
automatically and apparently without the
labor of consciously counting them. It is re-
lated in works dealing with the detection of
crime, that in the celebrated "thieves
schools" in Europe, the young thieves are
trained in a similar way, the old scoundrels
acting as teachers exposing a number of small
articles to the young ones, and requiring them
to repeat exactly what they had seen. Then
follows a higher course in which the young
thieves are required to memorize the objects
in a room ; the plan of houses, etc. They are
sent forth to "spy out the land" for future
robberies, in the guise of beggars soliciting
alms, and thus getting a rapid peep into
houses, offices, and stores. It is said that in
a single glance they will perceive the location
of all of the doors, windows, locks, bolts, etc.
Many nations have boys' games in which
the youngsters are required to see and re-
member after taking a peep. The Italians
have a game called 1 1 Morro ' ' in which one boy

Training the Eye 97

throws out a number of fingers, which must
be instantly named by the other boy, a fail-
ure resulting in a forfeit. The Chinese
youths have a similar game, while the Japan-
ese boys reduce this to a science. A well
trained Japanese youth will be able to re-
member the entire contents of a room after
one keen glance around it. Many of the Ori-
entals have developed this faculty to a degree
almost beyond belief. But the principle is
the same in all cases— the gradual practice
and exercise, beginning with a small number
of simple things, and then increasing the
number and complexity of the objects.

The faculty is not so rare as one might
imagine at first thought. Take a man in a
small business, and let him enter the store of
a competitor, and see how many things lie
will observe and remember after a few min-
utes in the place. Let an actor visit a play in
another theatre, and see how many details of
the performance he will notice and remember.
T^et some women pay a visit to a new neigh-
bor, and then see how many things about that
house they will have seen and remembered*
to be retailed to their confidential friends af-

98 Memory

terward. It is the old story of attention
following the interest, and memory following
the attention. An expert whist player will
see and remember every card played in the
game, and just who played it. A chess or
checker player will see and remember the
previous moves in the game, if he be expert,
and can relate them afterward. A woman
will go shopping and will see and remember
thousands of things that a man would never
have seen, much less remembered. As Hou-
din said: "Thus, for instance, I can safely
assert that a lady seeing another pass at full
speed in a carriage will have had time to ana-
lyze her toilette from her bonnet to her shoes,
and be able to describe not only the fashion
and quality of the stuffs, but also say if the
lace be real or only machine made. I have
known ladies to do this."

But, remember this— for it is important:
"Whatever can be done in this direction by
means of attention, inspired by interest, may
be duplicated by attention directed by will.
In other words, the desire to accomplish the
task adds and creates an artificial interest
just as effective as the natural feeling. And,

Training the Eye 99

as you progress, the interest in the game-
task will add new interest, and you will be
able to duplicate any of the feats mentioned
above. It is all a matter of attention, interest
(natural or induced) and practice. Begin
with a set of dominoes, if you like, and try to
remember the spots on one of them rapidly
glanced at— then two— then three. By in-
creasing the number gradually, you will at-
tain a power of perception and a memory of
sight-impressions that will appear almost
marvelous. And not only will you begin to
remember dominoes, but you will also be
able to perceive and remember thousands of
little details of interest, in everything, that
have heretofore escaped your notice. The
principle is very simple, but the results that
may be obtained by practice are wonderful.

The trouble with most of you is that you
have been looking without seeing— gazing but
not observing. The objects around you have
been out of your mental focus. If you will
but change your mental focus, by means of
will and attention, you will be able to cure
yourself of the careless methods of seeing
and observing that have been hindrances to

100 Memoby

your success. You have been blaming it on
your memory, but the fault is with your per-
ception. How can the memory remember,
when it is not given anything in the way of
clear impressions ? You have been like young
infants in this matter— now it is time for you
to begin to ' ' sit up and take notice, 9 f no matter
how old you may be. The whole thing in a
nut-shell is this: In order to remember the
things that pass before your sight, you must
begin to see with* your mind, instead of with
your retina. Let the impression get beyond
your retina and into your mind. If you will
do this, you will find that memory will "do
the rest."

CHAPTER X.

TRAINING THE EAR.

The sense of hearing is one of the highest
of the senses or channels whereby we receive
impressions from the outside world. In fact,
it ranks almost as high as the sense of sight.
In the senses of taste, touch, and smell there
is a direct contact between the sensitive re-
cipient nerve substance and the particles of
the object sensed, while in the sense of sight
and the sense of hearing the impression is re-
ceived through the medium of waves in the
ether (in the case of sight), or waves in the
air (in the sense of hearing.) Moreover in
taste, smell and touch the objects sensed are
brought into direct contact with the terminal
nerve apparatus, while in seeing and hearing
the nerves terminate in peculiar and delicate
sacs which contain a fluidic substance through
which the impression is conveyed to the nerve
proper. Loss of this fluidic substance de-
stroys the faculty to receive impressions, and

101

102 Memory

deafness or blindness ensues. As Fostel
says: " Waves of sound falling upon the au-
ditory nerve itself produces no effect what-
ever; it is only when, by the medium of the
endolymph, they are brought to bear on the
delicate and peculiar epithelium cells which
constitute the peripheral terminations of the
nerve, that sensations of sound arise."

Just as it is true that it is the mind and not
the eye that really sees; so is it true that it is
the mind and not the ear that really hears.
Many sounds reach the ear that are not regis-
tered by the mind. We pass along a crowded
street, the waves of many sounds reaching the
nerves of the ear, and yet the mind accepts
the sounds of but few things, particularly
when the novelty of the sounds has passed
away. It is a matter of interest and atten-
tion in this case, as well as in the case of hear-
ing. As Halleck says : "If we sit by an open
window in the country on a summer day, we
may have many stimuli knocking at the gate
of attention : the ticking of a clock, the sound
of the wind, the cackling of fowl, the quacking
of ducks, the barking of dogs, the lowing of
cows, the cries of children at play, the rust-

Training the Ear 103

ling of leaves, the songs of birds, the rumbling
of wagons, etc. If attention is centered upon
any one of these, that for the time being ac-
quires the importance of a king upon the
throne of our mental world."

Many persons complain of not being able
to remember sounds, or things reaching the
mind through the sense of hearing, and attrib-
ute the trouble to some defect in the organs
of hearing. But in so doing they overlook the
real cause of the trouble, for it is a scientific
fact that many of such persons are found to
have hearing apparatus perfectly developed
and in the best working order— their trouble
arising from a lack of training of the mental
faculty of hearing. In other words the
trouble is in their mind instead of in the or-
gans of hearing. To acquire the faculty of
correct hearing, and correct memory of things
heard, the mental faculty of hearing must be
exercised, trained and developed. Given a
number of people whose hearing apparatus
are equally perfect, we will find that some
"hear" much better than others; and some
hear certain things better than they do cer-
tain other things; and that there is a great

104 Memory

difference in the grades and degrees of mem-
ory of the things heard. As Kay says:
" Great differences exist among individuals
with regard to the acuteness of this sense
(hearing) and some possess it in greater per-
fection in certain directions than in others.
One whose hearing is good for sound in gen-
eral may yet have but little ear for musical
tones; and, on the other hand, one with a good
ear for music may yet be deficient as regards
hearing in general." The secret of this is to
be found in the degree of interest and atten-
tion bestowed upon the particular thing
giving forth the sound.

It is a fact that the mind will hear the faint-
est sounds from things in which is centered
interest and attention, while at the same time
ignoring things in which there is no interest
and to which the attention is not turned. A
sleeping mother will awaken at the slightest
whimper from her babe, while the rumbling
of a heavy wagon on the street, or even the
discharge of a gun in the neighborhood may
not be noticed by her. An engineer will de-
tect the slightest difference in the whir or
hum of his engine, while failing to notice a

Training the Ear 105

very loud noise outside. A musician will note
the slightest discord occurring in a concert
in which there are a great number of instru-
ments being played, and in which there is a
great volume of sound reaching the ear,
while other sounds may be unheard by him.
The man who taps the wheels of your rail-
road car is able to detect the slightest dif-
erence in tone, and is thus informed that there
is a crack or flaw in the wheel. One who
handles large quantities of coin will have his
attention drawn to the slightest difference in
the "ring" of a piece of gold or silver, that
informs him that there is something wrong
with the coin. A train engineer will distin-
guish the strange whir of something wrong
with the train behind him, amidst all the
thundering! rattle and roar in which it is
merged. The foreman in a machine shop in
the same manner detects the little strange
noise that informs him that something as
amiss, and he rings off the power at once.
Telegraphers are able to detect the almost im-
perceptible differences in the sound of their
instruments that inform them that a new op-
erator is on the wire ; or just who is sending

106 Memory

the message ; and, in some cases, the mood or
temper of the person transmitting it. Train-
men and steamboat men recognize the differ-
ences between every engine or boat on their
line, or river, as the case may be. A skilled
physician will detect the faint sounds denot-
ing a respiratory trouble or a " heart mur-
mur" in the patients. And yet these very
people who are able to detect the faint differ-
ences in sound, above mentioned, are often
known as "poor hearer s" in other things.
Why? Simply because they hear only that in
which they are interested, and to which their
attention has been directed. That is the
whole secret, and in it is also to be found the
secret of training of the ear-perception. It
is all a matter of interest and attention— the
details depend upon these principles.

In view of the facts just stated, it will be
seen that the remedy for "poor hearing," -and
poor memory of things heard is to be found in
the use of the will in the direction of volun-
tary attention and interest. So true is this
that some authorities go so far as to claim
that many cases of supposed slight deafness
are really but the result of lack of attention

Training the Ear 107

and concentration on the part of the person
so troubled. Kay says: "What is commonly
called deafness is not infrequently to be at-
tributed to this cause— the sounds being heard
but not being interpreted or* recognized.
. . . sounds may be distinctly heard when
the attention is directed toward them, that in
ordinary circumstances would be impercep-
tible; and people often fail to hear what is
said to them because they are not paying at-
tention/ ' Harvey says : "That one-half of the
deafness that exists is the result of inatten-
tion cannot be doubted." There are but few
persons who have not had the experience of
listening to some bore, whose words were dis-
tinctly heard but the meaning of which was
entirely lost because of inattention and lack of
interest. Kirkes sums the matter up in these
words: "In hearing we must distinguish two
different points— the audible sensation as it is
developed without any intellectual interfer-
ence, and the conception which we form in
consequence of that sensation."

The reason that many persons do not re-
member things that they have heard is simply
because they have not listened properly. Poor

108 - Memoky

listening is far more common than one would
suppose at first. A little self-examination
will reveal to you the fact that you have fallen
into the bad habit of inattention. One cannot
listen to everything, of course— it would not
be advisable. But one should acquire the
habit of either really listening or else refus-
ing to listen at all. The compromise of care-
less listening brings about deplorable results,
and is really the reason why so many people
" can't remember' ' what they have heard. It
is all a matter of habit. Persons who have
poor memories of ear-impressions should be-
gin to " listen' ' in earnest. In order to re-
acquire their lost habit of proper listening,
they must exercise voluntary attention and
develop interest. The following suggestions
may be useful in that direction.

Try to memorize words that are spoken to
you in conversation— a few sentences, or even
one, at a time. You will find that the effort
made to fasten the sentence on your memory
will result in a concentration of the attention
on the words of the speaker. Do the same
thing when you are listening to a preacher,
actor or lecturer. Pick out the first sentence

Training the Ear 109

for memorizing, and make up your mind that
your memory will be as wax to receive the im-
pression and as steel to retain it. Listen to
the stray scraps of conversation that come
to your ears while walking on the street, and
endeavor to memorize a sentence or two, as
if you were to repeat it later in the day.
Study the various tones, expressions and in-
flections in the voices of persons speaking to
you— you will find this most interesting and
helpful. You will be surprised at the details
that such analysis will reveal. Listen to the
footsteps of different persons and endeavor
to distinguish between them— each has its
peculiarities. Get some one to read a line or
two of poetry or prose to you, and then en-
deavor to remember it. A little practice of
this kind will greatly develop the power of
voluntary attention to> sounds and spoken
words. But above everything else, practice
repeating the words and sounds that you have
memorized, so far as is possible— for by so
doing you will get the mind into the habit of
taking an interest in sound impressions. In
this way you not only improve the sense of
hearing, but also the faculty of remembering.

110 Memory

If you will analyze, and boil down the above
remarks and directions, yon will find that the
gist of the whole matter is that one should
actually use, employ and exercise the mental
faculty of hearing, actively and intelligently.
Nature has a way of putting to sleep, or
atrophying any faculty that is not used or
exercised; and also of encouraging, develop-
ing and strengthening any faculty that is
properly employed and exercised. In this
you have the secret. Use it. If you will listen
well, you will hear well and remember well
that which you have heard.

CHAPTEE XL

HOW TO REMEMBEB , NAMES.

The phase of memory connected with the
remembrance or recollection of names prob-
ably is of greater interest to the majority of
persons than are any of the associated phases
of the subject. On all hands are to be found
people who are embarassed by their failure
to recall the name of some one whom they feel
they know, but whose name has escaped them.
This failure to remember the names of per-
sons undoubtedly interferes with the business
and professional success of many persons;
and, on the other hand, the ability to recall
names readily has aided many persons in the
struggle for success. It would seem that there
are a greater number of persons deficient in
this phase of memory than in any other. As
Holbrook has said: "The memory of names is
a subject with which most persons must have
a more than passing interest. . . .The
number of persons who never or rarely forget

ill

112 Memoky

a name is exceedingly small, the number of
those who have a poor memory for them is
very large. The reason for this is partly a de-
fect of mental development and partly a mat-
ter of habit. In either case it may be over-
come by effort. . • .1 have satisfied myself
by experience and observation that a memory
for names may be increased not only two, but
a hundredfold."

Yon will find that the majority of successful
men have been able to recall the faces and
names of those with whom they came in con-
tact, and it is an interesting subject for spec-
ulation as to just how much of their success
was due to this faculty. Socrates is said to
have easily remembered the names of all of
his students, and his classes numbered thou-
sands in the course of a year. Xenophon is
said to have known the name of every one of
his soldiers, which faculty was shared by
Washington and Napoleon, also. Trajan is
said to have known the names of all the Prae-
torian Guards, numbering about 12,000. Peri-
cles knew the face and name of every one
of the citizens of Athens. Cineas is said to
have known the names of all the citizens of

To Remember Names 113

Rome. Themistocles knew the names of 20,-
000 Athenians. Lucius Scipio could call by
name every citizen of Rome. John Wesley
could recall the names of thousands of per-
sons whom he had met in his travels. Henry
Clay was specially developed in this phase of
memory, and there was a tradition among his
followers that he remembered every one
whom he met. Blaine had a similar reputa-
tion.

There have been many theories advanced,
and explanations offered to account for the
fact that the recollection of names is far more
difficult than any other form of the activities
of the memory. We shall not take up your
time in going over these theories, but shall
proceed upon the theory now generally ac-
cepted by the best authorities; i. e. that the
difficulty in the recollection of names is caused
by the fact that names in themselves are un-
interesting and therefore do not attract or
hold the attention as do other objects pre-
sented to the mind. There is of course to be
remembered the fact that sound impressions
are apt to be more difficult of recollection than
sight impressions, but the lack of interesting

114 Memory

qualities in names is believed to be the princi-
pal obstacle and difficulty. Fuller says of this
matter: "A proper noun, or name, when con-
sidered independently of accidental features
of coincidence with something that is fami-
liar, doesn't mean anything; for this reason
a mental picture of it is not easily formed,
which accounts for the fact that the primitive,
tedious way of rote, or repetition, is that
ordinarily employed to impress a proper
noun on the memory, while a common noun,
being represented by some object having
shape, or appearance, in the physical or men-
tal perception, can thus be seen or imagined:
in other words a mental image of it can be
formed and the name identified afterwards,
through associating it with this mental im-
age." We think that the case is fully stated
in this quotation.

But in spite of this difficulty, persons have
and can greatly improve their memory of
names. Many who were originally very defi-
cient in this respect have not only improved
the faculty far beyond its former condition,
but have also developed exceptional ability
in this special phase of memory so that they

To Remember Names 115

became noted for their unfailing recollection
of the names of those with whom they came in
contact.

Perhaps the best way to impress upon you
the various methods that may be used for this
purpose would be to relate to you the actual
experience of a gentleman employed in a
bank in one of the large cities of this country,
who made a close study of the subject and
developed himself far beyond the ordinary.
Starting with a remarkably poor memory for
names, he is now known to his associates as
"the man who never forgets a name." This
gentleman first took a number of " courses' '
in secret "methods" of developing the mem-
ory; but after thus spending much money he
expressed his disgust with the whole idea of
artificial memory training. He then started
in to study the subject from the point-of-view
of The New Psychology, putting into effect
all of the tested principles, and improving
upon some of their details. We have had a
number of conversations with this gentleman,
and have found that his experience confirms
many of our own ideas and theories, and the
fact that he has demonstrated the correctness

116 Memory

of the principles to such a remarkable degree
renders his case one worthy of being stated in
the direction of affording a guide and
"method' ' for others who wish to develop
their memory of names.

The gentleman, whom we shall call "Mr.
X., ' ' decided that the first thing for him to do
was to develop his faculty of receiving clear
and distinct sound impressions. In doing this
he followed the plan outlined by us in our
chapter on "Training the Ear." He perse-
vered and practiced along these lines until
his "hearing" became very acute. He made
a study of voices, until he could classify them
and analyze their characteristics. Then he
found that he could %ear names in a manner
before impossible to him. That is, instead of
merely catching a vague sound of a name,
he would hear it so clearly and distinctly that
a firm registration would be obtained on the
records of his memory. For the first time in
his life names began to mean something to
him. He paid attention to every name he
heard, just as he did to every note he handled.
He would repeat a name to himself, after
hearing it, and would thus strengthen the im-

To Remember Names 117

pression. If he came across an unusual
name, he would write it down several times,
at the first opportunity, thus obtaining the
benefit of a double sense impression, adding
eye impression to ear impression. All this,
of course, aroused his interest in the subject
of names in general, which led him to the next
step in his progress.

Mr. X. then began to study names, their
origin, their peculiarities, their differences,
points of resemblances, etc. He made a hobby
of names, and evinced all the joy of a collector
when he was able to stick the pin of attention
through the specimen of a new and unfamil-
iar species of name. He began to collect
names, just as others collect beetles, stamps,
coins, etc., and took quite a pride in his col-
lection and in his knowledge of the subject.
He read books on names, from the libraries,
giving their origin, etc. He had the Dickens'
delight in "queer" names, and would amuse
his friends by relating the funny names he
had seen on signs, and otherwise. He took a
small City Directory home with him, and
would run over the pages in the evening,
looking up new names, and classifying old

118 Memoey

ones into groups. He found that some names
were derived from animals, and put these into
a class by themselves— the Lyons, Wolfs,
Foxes, Lambs, Hares, etc. Others were put
into the color group— Blacks, Greens, Whites,
Greys, Blues, etc. Others belonged to th$
bird family— Crows, Hawks, Birds, Drakes,
Cranes, Doves, Jays, etc. Others belonged
to trades— Millers, Smiths, Coopers, Malt-
sters, Carpenters, Bakers, Painters, etc. Oth-
ers were trees— Chestnuts, Oakleys, Walnuts,
Cherrys*, Pines, etc. Then there were Hills
and Dales ; Fields and Mountains ; Lanes and
Brooks. Some were Strong; others were
Gay j others were Savage; others Noble. And
so on. It would take a whole book to tell you
what that man found out about names. He
came near becoming a " crank" on the sub-
ject. But his hobby began to manifest ex-
cellent results, for his interest had been awak-
ened to an unusual degree, and he was becom-
ing very proficient in his recollection of
names, for they now meant something to him.
He easily recalled all the regular customers
at his bank,— quite a number by the way for
the bank was a large one— and many occasion-

To Remember Names 119

al depositors were delighted to have them-
selves called by name by our friend. Occa-
sionally he would meet with a name that
balked him, in which case he would repeat it
over to himself, and write it a number of
times until he had mastered it— after that it
never escaped him.

Mr. X. would always repeat a name when
it was spoken, and would at the same time
look intently at the person bearing it, thus
seeming to fix the two together in his mind
at the same time— when he wanted them they
would be found in each other 's company. He
also acquired the habit of visualizing the name
—that is, he would see its letters in his mind's
jeye, as a picture. This he regarded as a
most important point, and we thoroughly
agree with him. He used the Law of Associa-
tion in the direction of associating a new man
with a well-remembered man of the same
name. A new Mr. Schmidtzenberger would
be associated with an old customer of the same
name— when he would see the new man, he
would think of the old one, and the name
would flash into his mind. To sum up the
whole method, however, it may be said that

120 Memory

the gist of the thing was in taking an interest
in names in general. In this way an uninter-
esting subject was made interesting—and a
man always has a good memory for the things
in which he is interested.

The case of Mr. X. is an extreme one— and
the results obtained were beyond the ordi-
nary. But if you will take a leaf from his
book, you may obtain the same results in the
degree that you work for it. Make a study
of names— start a collection— and you will
have no trouble in developing a memory for
them. This is the whole thing in a nut-shell.

CHAPTEE XII.

HOW TO REMEMBER FACES.

The memory of faces is closely connected
with the memory of names, and yet the two
are not always associated, for there are many
people who easily remember faces, and yet
forget names, and vice versa. In some ways,
however, the memory of faces is a necessary
precedent for the recollection of the names of
people. For unless we recall the face, we are
unable to make the necessary association with
the name of the person. We have given a
number of instances of face-memory, in our
chapter on name-memory, in which are given
instances of the wonderful memory of cele-
brated individuals who acquired a knowledge
and memory of the thousands of citizens of a
town, or city, or the soldiers of an army. In
this chapter, however, we shall pay attention
only to the subject of the recollection of the
features of persons, irrespective of their
names. This faculty is possessed by all per-

121

122 Memory

sons, but in varying degrees. Those in whom
it is well developed seem to recognize the
faces of persons whom they have met ymrs
before, and to associate them with the cir-
cumstances in which they last met them, even
where the name escapes the memory. Others
seem to forget a face the moment it passes
from view, and fail to recognize the same per-
sons whom they met only a few hours before,
much to their mortification and chagrin.

Detectives, newspaper reporters, and others
who come in contact with many people, usu-
ally have this faculty largely developed, for it
becomes a necessity of their work, and their
interest and attention is rendered active
thereby. Public men often have this faculty
largely developed by reason of the necessities
of their life. It is said that James G. Blaine
never forgot the face of anyone whom he had
met and conversed with a few moments. This
faculty rendered him very popular in political
life. In this respect he resembled Henry
Clay, who was noted for his memory of faces.
It is related of Clay that he once paid a visit
of a few hours to a small town in Mississippi,
on an electioneering tour. Amidst the throng

To Remember Faces 123

surrounding him was an old man, with one eye
missing. The old fellow pressed forward cry-
ing out that he was sure that Henry Clay
would remember him. Clay took a sharp look
at him and said: "I met you in Kentucky
many years ago, did I not?" "Yes," replied
the man. "Did you lose your eye since
then?" asked Clay. "Yes, several years
after," replied the old man. "Turn your
face side-ways, so that I can see your profile,"
said Clay. The man did so. Then Clay
smiled, triumphantly, saying: "I've got you
now— weren't you on that jury in the Innes
case at Frankfort, that I tried in the United
States Court over twenty years ago?" "Yes
siree!" said the man, "I knowed that ye
know me, 'n I told 'em you would." And the
crowd gave a whoop, and Clay knew that he
was safe in that town and county.

Vidocq, the celebrated French detective, is
said to have never forgotten a face of a crim-
inal whom he had once seen. A celebrated in-
stance of this power on his part is that of
the case of Delafranche the forger who es-
caped from prison and dwelt in foreign lands
for over twenty years. After that time he re-

124 Memory

turned to Paris feeling secure from detection,
having become bald, losing an eye, and hav-
ing his nose badly mutilated. Moreover he dis-
guised himself and wore a beard, in order to
still further evade detection. One day Vidocq
met him on the street, and recognized him at
once, his arrest and return to prison follow-
ing. Instances of this kind could be multi-
plied indefinitely, but the student will have
had a sufficient acquaintance with persons
who possess this faculty developed to a large
degree, so that further illustration is scarcely
necessary.

The way to develop this phase of memory
is akin to that urged in the development of
other phases— the cultivation of interest, and
the bestowal of attention. Faces as a whole
are not apt to prove interesting. It is only by
analyzing and classifying them that the study
begins to grow of interest to us. The study
of a good elementary work on physiognomy
is recommended to those wishing to develop
the faculty of remembering faces, for in such
a work the student is led to notice the differ-
ent kinds of noses, ears, eyes, chins, fore-
heads, etc, such notice and recognition tend-

To Eemember Faces 125

ing to induce an interest in the subject of
features. A rudimentary course of study in
drawing faces, particularly in profile, will
also tend to make one "take notice" and will
awaken interest. If you are required to draw
a nose, particularly from memory, you will be
apt to give to it your interested attention.
The matter of interest is vital. If you were
shown a man and told that the next time you
met and recognized him he would hand you
over $500, you would be very apt to study
his face carefully, and to recognize him later
on ; whereas the same man if introduced casu-
ally as a "Mr. Jones," would arouse no in-
terest and the chances of recognition would
be slim.

Halleck says: Every time we enter a
street car we see different types of people,
and there is a great deal to be noticed about
each type. Every human countenance shows
its past history to one who knows how to look.
. . . Successful gamblers often become so
expert in noticing the slightest change of an
opponent's facial expression that they will
estimate the strength of his hand by the in-
voluntary signs which appear in the face and

126 Memoey

which are frequently checked the instant they
appear. ' '

Of all classes, perhaps artists are more apt
to form a clear cut image of the features of
persons whom they meet— particularly if they
are portrait painters. There are instances of
celebrated portrait painters who were able to
execute a good portrait after having once
carefully studied the face of the sitter, their
memory enabling them to visualize the fea-
tures at will. Some celebrated teachers of
drawing have instructed their scholars to take
a sharp hasty glance at a nose, an eye, an ear,
or chin, and then to so clearly visualize it that
they could draw it perfectly. It is all a mat-
ter of interest, attention, and practice. Sir
Francis Galton cites the instance of a French
teacher who trained his pupils so thoroughly
in this direction that after a few months'
practice they had no difficulty in summoning
images at will ; in holding them steady ; and in
drawing them correctly. He says of the fac-
ulty of visualization thus used: "A faculty
that is of importance in all technical and artis-
tic occupations, that gives accuracy to our
perceptions, and justice to our generaliza-

To Remember Faces 127

tions, is starved by lazy disuse, instead of be-
ing cultivated judiciously in such a way as
will, on the whole, bring the best return, I
believe that a serious study of the best means
of developing and utilizing this faculty, with-
out prejudice to the practice of abstract
thought in symbols, is one of the many press-
ing desiderata in the yet unformed science
of education. "

Fuller relates the method of a celebrated
painter, which method has been since taught
by many teachers of both drawing and mem-
ory. He relates it as follows: "The cele-
brated painter Leonardo da Vinci invented a
most ingenious method for identifying faces,
and by it is said to have been able to repro-
duce from memory any face that he had once
carefully scrutinized. He drew all the pos-
sible forms of the nose, mouth, chin, eyes,
ears and forehead, numbered them 1, 2, 3, 4,
etc., and committed them thoroughly to mem-
ory; then, whenever he saw a face that he
wished to draw or paint from memory, he
noted in his mind that it was chin 4, eyes 2,
nose 5, ears 6,— or whatever the combinations
might be— and by retaining the analysis in

128 Memoky

his memory he could reconstruct the face at
any time." We could scarcely ask the stu-
dent to attempt so complicated a system, and
yet a modification of it would prove useful.
That is, if you would begin to form a classi-
fication of several kind of noses, say about
seven, the well-known Eoman, Jewish, Gre-
cian, giving you the general classes, in con-
nection with straight, crooked, pug and all
the other varieties, you would soon recognize
noses when you saw them. And the same with
mouths, a few classes being found to cover
the majority of cases. But of all the features,
the eye is the most expressive, and the one
most easily remembered, when clearly noticed.
Detectives rely much upon the expression of
the eye. If you ever fully catch the expres-
sion of a person's eye, you will be very apt to
recognize it thereafter. Therefore concen-
trate on eyes in studying faces.

A good plan in developing this faculty is to
visualize the faces of persons you have met
during the day, in the evening. Try to de-
velop the faculty of visualizing the features
of those whom you know— this will start you
off right. Draw them in your mind— see

To Eemember Faces 129

them with your mind's eye, until you can vis-
ualize the features of very old friends; then
do the same with acquaintances, and so on,
until you are able to visualize the features of
every one you "know." Then start on to add
to your list by recalling in the imagination,
the features of strangers whom you meet. By
a little practice of this kind you will develop
a great interest in faces and your memory of
them, and the power to recall them will in-
crease rapidly. The secret is to study faces
—to be interested in them. In this way you
add zest to the task, and make a pleasure of a
drudgery. The study of photographs is also
a great aid in this work— but study them in
detail, not as a whole. If you can arouse
sufficient interest in features and faces, you
will have no trouble in remembering and re-
calling them. The two things go together.

CHAPTER XIII.

HOW TO BEMEMBER PLACES.

There is a great difference in the various
degrees of development of " the sense of local-
ity' ' in different persons. But these differ-
ences may be traced directly to the degree of
memory of that particular phase or faculty
of the mind, which in turn depends upon the
degree of attention, interest, and use which
has been bestowed upon the faculty in ques-
tion. The authorities on phrenology define
the faculty of "locality as follows: "Cogni-
zance of place; recollection of the looks of
places, roads, scenery, and the location of ob-
jects ; where on a page ideas are to be found,
and position generally; the geographical fac-
ulty; the desire to see places, and have the
ability to find them." Persons in whom this
faculty is developed to the highest degree
seem to have an almost intuitive idea of di-
rection, place and position. They never get
lost or "mixed up" regarding direction or

130

To Eemembee Places 131

place. They remember the places they visit
and their relation in space to each other.
Their minds are like maps upon which are
engraved the various roads, streets and ob-
jects of sight in every direction. When these
people think of China, Labrador, Terra del
Fuego, Norway, Cape of Good Hope, Thibet,
or any other place, they seem to think of it in
"this direction or that direction' ' rather than
as a vague place situated in a vague direction.
Their minds think " north, south, east or
west" as the case may be when they consider
a given place. Shading down by degrees we
find people at the other pole of the faculty
who seem to find it impossible to remember
any direction, or locality or relation in space.
Such people are constantly losing themselves
in their own towns, and fear to trust them-
selves in a strange place. They have no sense
of direction, or place, and fail to recognize a
street or scene which they have visited re-
cently, not to speak of those which they trav-
eled over in time past. Between these two
poles or degrees there is a vast difference,
and it is difficult to realize that it is all a mat-
ter of use, interest and attention. That it is

132 Memory

but this may be proven by anyone who will
take the trouble and pains to develop the
faculty and memory of locality within his
mind. Many have done this, and anyone else
may do likewise if the proper methods be em-
ployed.

The secret of the development of the faculty
and memory of place and locality is akin to
that mentioned in the preceding chapter, in
connection with the development of the mem-
ory for names. The first thing necessary is
to develop an interest in the subject. One
should begin to "take notice" of the direction
of the streets or roads over which he travels ;
the landmarks; the turns of the road; the
natural objects along the way. He should
study maps, until he awakens a new interest
in them, just as did the man who used the
directory in order to take an interest in
names. He should procure a small geography
and study direction, distances, location, shape
and form of countries, etc., not as a mere me-
chanical thing but as a live subject of interest.
If there were a large sum of money awaiting
your coming in certain sections of the globe,
you would manifest a decided interest in the

To Remember Places 133

direction, locality and position of those places,
and the best way to reach them. Before long
you would be a veritable reference book re-
garding those special places. Or, if your
sweetheart were waiting for you in some such
place, you would do likewise. The whole
thing lies in the degree of "want to" regard-
ing the matter. Desire awakens interest ; in-
terest employs attention; and attention
brings use, development and memory. There-
fore you must first want to develop the fac-
ulty of Locality— and want to "hard
enough. ' ' The rest is a mere matter of detail.
One of the first things to do, after arousing
an interest, is to carefully note the landmarks
and relative positions of the streets or roads
over which you travel. So many people travel
along a new street or road in an absent-
minded manner, taking no notice of the lay
of the land as they proceed. This is fatal to
place-memory. You must take notice of the
thoroughfares and the things along the way.
Pause at the cross roads, or the street-corners
and note the landmarks, and the general
directions and relative positions, until they
are firmly imprinted on your mind. Begin to

134 Memoby

see how many things you can remember re-
garding even a little exercise walk. And
when you have returned home, go over the
trip in your mind, and see how much of the
direction and how many of the landmarks you
are able to remember. Take out your pencil,
and endeavor to make a map of your route,
giving the general directions, and noting the
street names, and principal objects of inter-
est. Fix the idea of " North' ' in your mind
when starting, and keep your bearings by it
during your whole trip, and in your map
making. You will be surprised how much
interest you will soon develop in this map-
making. It will get to be quite a game, and
you will experience pleasure in your increas-
ing proficiency in it. When you go out for a
walk, go in a round-about way, taking as
many turns and twists as possible, in order
to exercise your faculty of locality and direc-
tion—but always note carefully direction and
general course, so that you may reproduce it
correctly on your map when you return. If
you have a city map, compare it with your
own little map, and also re-trace your route,
in imagination, on the map. With a city map,

To Kemember Places 135

or road-map, you may get lots of amusement
by re- traveling the route of your little jour-
neys.

Always note the names of the various
streets over which you travel, as well as those
which you cross during your walk. Note them
down upon your map, and you will find that
you will develop a rapidly improving mem-
ory in this direction— because you have awak-
ened interest and bestowed attention. Take
a pride in your map making. If you have a
companion, endeavor to beat each other at
this game— both traveling over the same route
together, and then seeing which one can re-
member the greatest number of details of the
journey.

Akin to this, and supplementary to it, is
the plan of selecting a route to be traveled,
on your city map, endeavoring to fix in
your mind the general directions, names
of streets, turns, return journey, etc.,
before you start. Begin by mapping out a
short trip in this way, and then increase it
every day. After mapping out a trip, lay
aside your map and travel it in person. If
you like, take along the map and puzzle out

136 Memoky

variations, from time to time. Get the map
habit in every possible variation and form,
but do not depend upon the map exclusively ;
but instead, endeavor to correlate the printed
map with the mental map that you are build-
ing in your brain.

If you are about to take a journey to a
strange place, study your maps carefully be-
fore you go, and exercise your memory in
reproducing them with a pencil. Then as you
travel along, compare places with your map,
and you will find that you will take an en-
tirely new interest in the trip— it will begin
by meaning something to you. If about to
visit a strange city, procure a map of it be-
fore starting, and begin by noting the cardinal
points of the compass, study the map— the
directions of the principal streets and the
relative positions of the principal points of
interest, buildings, etc. In this way you not
only develop your memory of places, and
render yourself proof against being lost, but
you also provide a source of new and great
interest in your visit.

The above suggestions are capable of the
greatest expansion and variation on the part

To Eemember Places 137

of anyone who practices them. The whole
thing depends upon the "taking notice " and
using the attention, and those things in turn
depend upon the taking of interest in the sub-
ject If anyone will "wake up and take in-
ter est" in the subject of locality and direction
he may develop himself along the lines of
place-memory to an almost incredible degree,
in a comparatively short time at that. There
is no other phase of memory that so quickly
responds to use and exercise as this one. We
have in mind a lady who was notoriously defi-
cient in the memory of place, and was sure to
lose herself a few blocks from her stopping
place, wherever she might be. She seemed
absolutely devoid of the sense of direction or
locality and often lost herself in the hotel
corridors, notwithstanding the fact that she
traveled all over the world, with her husband,
for years. The trouble undoubtedly arose
from jthe fact that she depended altogether
upon her husband as a pilot, the couple being
inseparable. Well, the husband died, and the
lady lost her pilot. Instead of giving up in
despair, she began to rise to the occasion-
having no pilot, she had to pilot herself. And

138 Memory

she was forced to "wake up and take notice."
She was compelled to travel for a couple of
years, in order to close up certain business
matters of her husband's— for she was a good
business woman in spite of her lack of de-
velopment along this one line— and in order
to get around safely, she was forced to take
an interest in where she was going. Before
the two years' travels were over, she was as
good a traveler as her husband had ever been,
and was frequently called upon as a guide by
others in whose company she chanced to be.
She explained it by saying "Why, I don't
know just how I did it— I just had to, that's
all— I just did it." Another example of a
woman 's ' ' because, ' ' you see. What this good
lady "just did," was accomplished by an
instinctive following of the plan which we
have suggested to you. She "just had to"
use maps and to "take notice." That is the
whole story.

So true are the principles underlying this
method of developing the place-memory, that
one deficient in it, providing he will arouse
intense interest and will stick to it, may de-
velop the faculty to such an extent that he

To Eemembee Places 139

may almost rival the cat which "always came
back," or the dog which "you couldn't lose."
The Indians, Arabs, Gypsies and other peo-
ple of the plain, forest, desert, and mountains,
have this faculty so highly developed that it
seems almost like an extra sense. It is all
this matter of "taking notice" sharpened by
continuous need, use and exercise, to a high
degree. The mind will respond to the need
if the person like the lady, "just has to."
The laws of Attention and Association will
work wonders when actively called into play
by Interest or need, followed by exercise and
use. There is no magic in the process— just
"want to" and "keep at it," that's all. Do
you want to hard enough— have you the de-
termination to keep at it?

CHAPTER XIV.

HOW TO KEMEMBER NUMBERS.

The faculty of Number— that is the faculty
of knowing, recognizing and remembering fig-
ures in the abstract and in their relation to
each other, differs very materially among dif-
ferent individuals. To some, figures and
numbers are apprehended and remembered
with ease, while to others they possess no in-
terest, attraction or affinity, and consequently
are not apt to be remembered. It is generally
admitted by the best authorities that the
memorizing of dates, figures, numbers, etc.,
is the most difficult of any of the phases of
memory. But all agree that the faculty may
be developed by practice and interest. There
have been instances of persons having this
faculty of the mind developed to a degree
almost incredible ; and other instances of per-
sons having started with an aversion to fig-
ures and then developing an interest which

140

To Remember Numbers 141

resulted in their acquiring a remarkable de-
gree of proficiency along these lines.

Many of the celebrated mathematicians and
astronomers developed wonderful memories
for figures. Herschel is said to have been
able to remember all the details of intricate
calculations in his astronomical computa-
tions, even to the figures of the fractions.
It is said that he was able to perform the most
intricate calculations mentally, without the
use of pen or pencil, and then dictated to his
assistant the entire details of the process, in-
cluding the final results. Tycho Brahe, the
astronomer, also possessed a similar memory.
It is said that he rebelled at being compelled
to refer to the printed tables of square roots
and cube roots, and set to work to memorize
the entire set of tables, which almost incred-
ible task he accomplished in a half day— this
required the memorizing of over 75,000 fig-
ures, and their relations to each other. Euler
the mathematician became blind in his old
age, and being unable to refer to his tables,
memorized them. It is said that he was able
to repeat from recollection the first six powers
of all the numbers from one to one hundred.

142 Memory

Wallis the mathematician was a prodigy
in this respect. He is reported to have been
able to mentally extract the square root of a
number to forty decimal places, and on one
occasion mentally extracted the cube root of
a number consisting of thirty figures. Dase
is said to have mentally multiplied two num-
bers of one hundred figures each. A youth
named Mangiamele was able to perform the
most remarkable feats in mental arithmetic.
The reports show that upon a celebrated test
before members of the French Academy of
Sciences he was able to extract the cube root
of 3,796,416 in thirty seconds ; and the tenth
root of 282,475,289 in three minutes. He also
immediately solved the following question put
to him by Arago: "What number has the
following proportion: That if five times the
number be subtracted from the cube plus
five times the square of the number, and nine
times the square of the number be subtracted
from that result, the remainder will be 0?"
The answer, "5" was given immediately,
without putting down a figure on paper or
board. It is related that a cashier of a Chi-
cago bank was able to mentally restore the

To Remember Numbers 143

accounts of the bank, which had been de-
stroyed in the great fire in that city, and his
account which was accepted by the bank and
the depositors, was found to agree perfectly
with the other memoranda in the case, the
work performed by him being solely the work
of his memory.

Bidder was able to tell instantly the num-
ber of farthings in the sum of £868,42s,121d.
Buxton mentally calculated the number of
cubical eighths of an inch there were in a
quadrangular mass 23,145,789 yards long, 2,-
642,732 yards wide and 54,965 yards in thick-
ness. He also figured out mentally, the
dimensions of an irregular estate of about a
thousand acres, giving the contents in acres
and perches, then reducing them to square
inches, and then reducing them to square hair-
breadths, estimating 2,304 to the square inch,
48 to each side. The mathematical prodigy,
Zerah Colburn, was perhaps the most remark-
able of any of these remarkable people.
When a mere child, he began to develop the
most amazing qualities of mind regarding fig-
ures. He was able to instantly make the men-
tal calculation of the exact number of seconds

144 Memoby

or minutes there was in a given time. On one
occasion he calculated the number of minutes
and seconds contained in forty-eight years,
the answer: "25,228,800 minutes, and 1,513,-
728,000 seconds," being given almost instan-
taneously. He could instantly multiply any
number of one to three figures, by another
number consisting of the same number of
figures; the factors of any number consisting
of six or seven figures ; the square, and cube
roots, and the prime numbers of any numbers
given him. He mentally raised the number
8, progressively, to its sixteenth power, the
result being 281,474,976,710,656; and gave
the square root of 106,929, which was 5. He
mentally extracted the cube root of 268,336,-
125 ; and the squares of 244,999,755 and 1,224,-
998,:755. In five seconds he calculated the
cube root of 413,993,348,677. He found the
factors of 4,294,967,297, which had previously
been considered to be a prime number. He
mentally calculated the square of 999,999,
which is 999,998,000,001 and then miltiplied |
that number by 49, and the product by the
same number, and the whole by 25— the latter
as extra measure.

To Eemember Numbers 145

The great difficulty in remembering num-
bers, to the majority of persons, is the fact
that numbers "do not mean anything to
them"— that is, that numbers are thought of
only in their abstract phase and nature, and
are consequently far more difficult to remem-
ber than are impressions received from the
senses of sight or sound. The remedy, how-
ever, becomes apparent when we recognize the
source of the difficulty. The remedy is:
Make the number the subject of sound and
sight impressions. Attach the abstract idea
of the numbers to the sense of impressions of
sight or sound, or both, according to which
are the best developed in your particular case.
It may be difficult for you to remember
"1848" as an abstract thing, but compara-
tively easy for you to remember the sound of
"eighteen forty-eight," or the shape and ap-
pearance of "1848." If you will repeat a
number to yourself, so that you grasp the
sound impression of it, or else visualize it so
that you can remember having seen it— then
you will be far more apt to remember it than
if you merely think of it without reference
to sound or form. You may forget that the

146 Memory

number of a certain store or house is 3948,
but you may easily remember the sound of
the spoken words " thirty-nine forty-eight,"
or the form of "3948" as it appeared to your
sight on the door of the place. In the latter
case, you associate the number with the door
and when you visualize the door you visual-
ize the number.

Kay, speaking of visualization, or the re-
production of mental images of things to be
remembered, says: "Those who have been
distinguished for their power to carry out
long and intricate processes of mental calcu-
lation owe it to the same cause." Taine says :
"Children accustomed to calculate in their
heads write mentally with chalk on an imagin-
ary board the figures in question, then all
their partial operations, then the final sum, so
that they see internally the different lines of
white figures with which they are concerned.
Young Colburn, who had never been at school
and did not know how to read or write, said
that, when making his calculations 'he saw
them clearly before him.' Another said that he
'saw the numbers he was working with as if
they had been written on a slate/ " Bidder

To Remember Numbers 147

said : ' ' If I perform a sum mentally, it always
proceeds in a visible form in my mind; in-
deed, I can conceive of no other way possible
of doing mental arithmetic. ' '

We have known office boys who could never
remember the number of an address until it
were distinctly repeated to them several
times— then they memorized the sound and
never forget it. Others forget the sounds, or
failed to register them in the mind, but after
once seeing the number on the door of an
office or store, could repeat it at a moments
notice, saying that they mentally " could see
the figures on the door." You will find by a
little questioning that the majority of people
remember figures or numbers in this way, and
that very few can remember them as abstract
things. For that matter it is difficult for the
majority of persons to even think of a num-
ber, abstractly. Try it yourself, and ascer-
tain whether you do not remember the num-
ber as either a sound of words, or else as the
mental image or visualization of the form of
the figures. And, by the way, which ever it
happens to be, sight or sound, that particular
kind of remembrance is your best way of

148 Memoby

remembering numbers, and consequently
gives you the lines upon which you should
proceed to develop this phase of memory.

The law of Association may be used advan-
tageously in memorizing numbers; for in-
stance we know of a person who remembered
the number 186,000 (the number of miles per
second traveled by light-waves in the ether)
by associating it with the number of his
father's former place of business, "186."
Another remembered his telephone number

' "1876" by recalling the date of the Declara-
tion of Independence. Another, the number
of States in the Union, by associating it with
the last two figures of the number of his place
% of business. But by far the better way to

/ memorize dates, special numbers connected
with events, etc., it to visualize the picture of
the event with the picture of the date or num-
ber, thus combining the two things into a
mental picture, the association of which will
be preserved when the picture is recalled.
Verse of doggerel, such as "In fourteen hun-
dred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the
ocean blue;" or "In eighteen hundred and
sixty-one, our country's Civil war begun,"

To Remember Numbers 149

etc., have their places and uses. But it is far
better to cultivate the " sight or sound" of a
number, than to depend upon cumbersome
associative methods based on artificial links
and pegs.

Finally, as we have said in the preceding
chapters, before one can develop a good mem-
ory of a subject, he must first cultivate an in-
terest in that subject. Therefore, if you will
keep your interest in figures alive by working
out a few problems in mathematics, once in a
while, you will find that figures will begin to
have a new interest for you. A little elemen-
tary arithmetic, used with interest, will do
more to start you on the road to "How to
Eemember Numbers' ' than a dozen text books
on the subject. In memory, the three rules
are: "Interest, Attention and Exercise"—
and the last is the most important, for with-
out it the others fail. You will be surprised
to see how many interesting things there are
in figures, as you proceed. The task of going
over the elementary arithmetic will not be
nearly so "dry" as when you were a child.
You will uncover all sorts of "queer" things
in relation to numbers. Just as a "sample"
let us call your attention to a few :

150 Memory

Take the figure "1" and place behind it a
number of "naughts," thus: 1,000,000,000,-
000,— as many "naughts" or ciphers as you
wish. Then divide the number by the figure
"7." You will find that the result is always
this "142,857" then another "142,857," and
so on to infinity, if you wish to carry the cal-
culation that far. These six figures will be
repeated over and over again. Then multi-
ply this "142,857" by the figure "7," and
your product will be all nines. Then take
any number, and set it down, placing beneath
it a reversal of itself and subtract the latter
from the former, thus :

117,761,909
90,916,771

26,845,138

and you will find that the result will always
reduce to nine, and is always a multiple of
9. Take any number composed of two or
more figures, and subtract from it the added
sum of its separate figures, and the result is
always a multiple of 9, thus:

To Remember Numbers 151

184

1+8+4= 13

171-9=19

We mention these familiar examples merely
to remind you that there is much more of in-
terest in mere figures than many would sup-
pose. If you can arouse your interest in
them, then you will be well started on the
road to the memorizing of numbers. Let fig-
ures and numbers "mean something" to you,
and the rest will be merely a matter of detail.

CHAPTER XV.

HOW TO KEMEMBEB MUSIC.

Like all of the other faculties of the mind,
that of music or tune is manifested in varying
degrees by different individuals. To some
music seems to be almost instinctively
grasped, while to others it is acquired only
by great effort and much labor. To some
harmony is natural, and inharmony a matter
of repulsion, while others fail to recognize
the difference between the two except in ex-
treme cases. Some seem to be the very soul
of music, while others have no conception of
what the soul of music may be. Then there
is manifested the different phases of the
knowledge of music. Some play correctly by
ear, but are clumsy and inefficient when it
comes to playing by note. Others play very
correctly in a mechanical manner, but fail to
retain the memory of music which they have
heard. It is indeed a good musician who
combines within himself, or herself, both of

152

To Remember Music 153

the two last mentioned faculties— the ear per-
ception of music and the ability to execute
correctly from notes.

There are many cases of record in which
extraordinary powers of memory of music
have been manifested. Fuller relates the fol-
lowing instances of this particular phase of
memory : Carolan, the greatest of Irish bards,
once met a noted musician and challenged him
to a test of their respective musical abilities.
The defi was accepted and Carolan's rival
played on his violin one of Vivaldi's most
difficult concertos. On, the conclusion of the
performance, Carolan, who had never heard
the piece before, took his harp and played the
concerto through from beginning to end with-
out making a single error. His rival there-
upon yielded the palm, thoroughly satisfied
of Carolan 's superiority, as well he might be.
Beethoven could retain in his memory any
musical composition, however complex, that
he had listened to, and could reproduce most
of it. He could play from memory every one
of the compositions in Bach's 'Well Tem-
pered Clavichord/ there being forty-eight
preludes and the same number of fugues

154 Memory

which in intricacy of movement and difficulty
of execution are almost unexampled, as each
of these compositions is written in the most
abstruse style of counterpoint.

"Mozart, at four years of age, could re-
member note for note, elaborate solos in con-
certos which he had heard ; he could learn a
minuet in half an hour, and even composed
short pieces at that early age. At six he was
able to compose without the aid of an instru-
ment, and continued to advance rapidly in
musical memory and knowledge. When four-
teen years old he went to Eome in Holy Week.
At the Sistine Chapel was performed each
day, Allegri's i Miserere,' the score of which
Mozart wished to obtain, but he learned that
no copies were allowed to be made. He
listened attentively to the performance, at
the conclusion of which he wrote the whole
score from memory without an error. An-
other time, Mozart was engaged to contribute
an original composition to be performed by a
noted violinist and himself at Vienna before
the Emperor Joseph. On arriving atj the
appointed place Mozart discovered that he
had forgotten to bring his part. Nothing

To Remember Muffl 155

dismayed, he placed a blank sheet of paper
before him, and played his part through from
memory without a mistake. When the opera
of 'Don Giovanni' was first performed there
was no time to copy the score for the harpsi-
chord, but Mozart was equal to the occasion ;
he conducted the entire opera and played the
harpischord accompaniment to the songs and
choruses without a note before him. There
are many well-attested instances of Mendels-
sohn's remarkable musical memory. He once
gave a grand concert in London, at which his
Overture to 'Midsummer Night's Dream'
was produced. There was only one copy of
the full score, which was taken charge of by
the organist of St. Paul's Cathedral, who un-
fortunately left it in a hackney coach— where-
upon Mendelssohn wrote out another score
from memory, without an error. At another
time, when about to direct a public perform-
ance of Bach's 'Passion Music,' he found on
mounting the conductor's platform that in-
stead of the score of the work to be per-
formed, that of another composition had been
brought by mistake. Without hesitation
Mendelssohn successfully conducted this com-

156 Memoey

plicated work from memory, automatically
turning over leaf after leaf of the score be-
fore him as the performance progressed, so
that no feeling of uneasiness might enter the
minds of the orchestra and singers. Gotts-
chalk, it is said, could play from memory sev-
eral thousand compositions, including many
of the works of Bach. The noted conductor,
Vianesi, rarely has the score before him in
conducting an opera, knowing every note of
many operas from memory.' *

It will be seen that two phases of memory
must enter into the "memory of music"—
the memory of tune and the memory of the
notes. The memory of tune of course falls
into the class of ear-impressions, and what
has been said regarding them is also appli-
cable to this case. The memory of notes falls
into the classification of eye-impressions, and
the rules of this class of memory applies in
this case. As to the cultivation of the mem-
ory of tune, the principle advice to be given
is that the student take an active interest in
all that pertains to the sound of music, and
also takes every opportunity for listening to
good music, and endeavoring to reproduce it

To Eemember Music 157

in the imagination or memory. Endeavor to
enter into the spirit of the music until it be-
comes a part of yourself. Best not content
with merely hearing it, but lend yourself to a
feeling of its meaning. The more the music
\ ' means to you," the more easily will you
remember it. The plan followed by many stu-
dents, particularly those of vocal music, is to
have a few bars of a piece played over to
them several times, until they are able to hum
it correctly ; then a few more are added ; and
then a few more and so on. Each addition
must be reviewed in connection with that
which was learned before, so that the chain of
association may be kept unbroken. The prin-
ciple is the same as the child learning his
A-B-C— he remembers "B" because it fol-
lows "A." By this constant addition of
" just a little bit more," accompanied by fre-
quent reviews, long and difficult pieces may
be memorized.

The memory of notes may be developed by
the method above named— the method of
learning a few bars well, and then adding a
few more, and frequently reviewing as far
as you have learned, forging the links of as-

158 Memory

sociation as you go along, by frequent prac-
tice. The method being entirely that of
eye-impression and subject to its rules, you
must observe the idea of visualization— that
is learning each bar until you can see it "in
your mind's eye" as you proceed. But in
this, as in many other eye-impressions, you
will find that you will be greatly aided by
your memory of the sound of the notes, in
addition to their appearance. Try to asso-
ciate the two as much as possible, so that
when you see a note, you will hear the sound
of it, and when you liear a note sounded, you
will see it as it appears on the score. This
combining of the impressions of both sight
and sound will give you the benefit of the
double sense impression, which results in
doubling your memory efficiency. In addi-
tion to visualizing the notes themselves, the
student should add the appearance of the
various symbols denoting the key, the time,
the movement, expression, etc., so that he
may hum the air from the visualized notes,
with expression and with correct interpreta-
tion. Changes of key, time or movement
should be carefully noted in the memoriza-

To Remember Music 159

tion of the notes. And above everything else,
memorize the feeling of that particular por-
tion of the score, that you may not only see
and hear, but also feel that which you are re-
calling.

We would advise the student to practice
memorizing simple songs at first, for various
reasons. One of these reasons is that these
songs lend themselves readily to memorizing,
and the chain of easy association is usually
maintained throughout.

In this phase of memory, as in all others,
we add the advice to: Take interest; bestow
Attention ; and Practice and Exercise as often
as possible. You may have tired of these
words— but they constitute the main princi-
ples of the development of a retentive mem-
ory. Things must be impressed upon the
memory, before they may be recalled. This
should be remembered in every consideration
of the subject.

CHAPTER XVI.

HOW TO REMEMBER OCCURRENCES.

The phase of memory which manifests in
the recording of and recollection of the occur-
rences and details of one's every-day life is
far more important than would appear at first
thought. The average person is under the
impression that he remembers very well the
occurrences of his every-day business, pro-
fessional or social life, and is apt to be sur-
prised to have it suggested to him that he
really remembers but very little of what hap-
pens to him during his waking hours. In
order to prove how very little of this kind is
really remembered, let each student lay down
this book, at this place, and then quieting his
mind let him endeavor to recall the incidents
of the same day of the preceding week. He
will be surprised to see how very little of
what happened on that day he is really ca-
pable of recollecting. Then let him try the
same experiment with the occurrences of yes-

160

To Remember Occurrences 161

terday— this result will also excite surprise.
It is true that if he is reminded of some par-
ticular occurrence, he will recall it, more or
less distinctly, but beyond that he will remem-
ber nothing. Let him imagine himself called
upon to testify in court, regarding the hap-
penings of the previous day, or the day of
the week before, and he will realize his posi-
tion.

The reason for his failure to easily remem-
ber the events referred to is to be found in
the fact that he made no effort at the time to
impress these happenings upon his subcon-
scious mentality. He allowed them to pass
from his attention like the proverbial " water
from the duck's back." He did not wish to
be bothered with the recollection of trifles,
and in endeavoring to escape from them, he
made the mistake of failing to store them
away. There is a vast difference between
dwelling on the past, and storing away past
records for possible future reference. To
allow the records of each day to be destroyed
is like tearing up the important business
papers in an office in order to avoid giving
them a little space in the files.

162 Memoby

It is not advisable to expend much mental
effort in fastening each important detail of
the day upon the mind, as it occurs ; but there
is an easier way that will accomplish the pur-
pose, if one will but take a little trouble in
that direction. We refer to the practice of
reviewing the occurrences of each day, after
the active work of the day is over. If you
will give to the occurrences of each day a
mental review in the evening, you will find
that the act of reviewing will employ the at-
tention to such an extent as to register the
happenings in such a manner that they will
be available if ever needed thereafter. It is
akin to the filing of the business papers of
the day, for possible future reference. Be-
sides this advantage, these reviews will serve
you well as a reminder of many little things
of immediate importance which have escaped
your recollection by reason of something that
followed them in the field of attention.

You will find that a little practice will en-
able you to review the events of the day, in a
very short space of time, with a surprising
degree of accuracy of detail. It seems that
the mind will readily respond to this demand

To Remember Occurrences 163

upon it. The process appears to be akin to a
mental digestion, or rather a mental rumina-
tion, similar to that of the cow when it l ' chews
the cud" that it has previously gathered.
The thing is largely a " knack" easily ac-
quired by a little practice. It will pay you
for the little trouble and time that you expend
upon it. As we have said, not only do you
gain the advantage of storing away these
records of the day for future use, but you
also have your attention called to many im-
portant details that have escaped you, and
you will find that many ideas of importance
will come to you in your moments of leisure
"rumination." Let this work be done in the
evening, when you feel at ease— but do not do
it after you retire. The bed is made for sleep,
not for thinking. You will find that the sub-
consciousness will awaken to the fact that it
will be called upon later for the records of
the day, and will, accordingly, "take notice"
of what happens, in a far more diligent and
faithful manner. The subconsciousness re-
sponds to a call made upon it in an astonish-
ing manner, when it once understands just
what is required of it. You will see that

164 Memoby

much of the virtue of the plan recommended
consists in the fact that in the review there
is an employment of the attention in a man-
ner impossible during the haste and rush of
the day's work. The faint impressions are
brought out for examination, and the atten-
tion of the examination and review greatly
deepen the impression in each case, so that
it may be reproduced thereafter. In a sen-
tence: it is the deepening of the faint impres-
sions of the day.

Thurlow Weed, a well-known politician of
the last century, testifies to the efficacy of
the above mentioned method, in his "Mem-
oirs." His plan was slightly different from
that mentioned by us, but you will at once see
that it involves the same principles— the same
psychology. Mr. Weed says: "Some of my
friends used to think that I was 'cut out' for
a politician, but I saw at once a fatal weak-
ness. My memory was a sieve. I could re-
member nothing. Dates, names, appoint-
ments, faces— everything escaped me. I said
to my wife, ' Catherine, I shall never make a
successful politician, for I cannot remember,
and that is a prime necessity of politicians.

To Remember Occurrences 165

A politician who sees a man once should re-
member him forever. ' My wife told me that
I must train my memory. So when I came
home that night I sat down alone and spent
fifteen minutes trying silently to recall with
accuracy the principal events of the day.
I could remember but little at first— now I
remember that I could not then recall what I
had for breakfast. After a few days' prac-
tice I found I could recall more. Events
came back to me more minutely, more accu-
rately, and more vividly than at first. After
a fortnight or so of this, Catherine said /why
don't you relate to me the events of the day
instead of recalling them to yourself? It
would be interesting and my interest in it
would be a stimulus to you.' Having great
respect for my wife's opinion, I began a
habit of oral confession, as it were, which was
continued for almost fifty years. Every
night, the last thing before retiring, I told her
everything I could remember that had hap-
pened to me, or about me, during the day. I
generally recalled the very dishes I had for
breakfast, dinner and tea; the people I had
seen, and what they had said; the editorials

166 Memoby

I had written for my paper, giving her a hrief
abstract of them; I mentioned all the letters
I had seen and received, and the very lan-
guage used, as nearly as possible ; when I had
walked or ridden— I told her everything that
had come within my observation. I found
that I could say my lessons better and better
every year, and instead of the practice grow-
ing irksome, it became a pleasure to go over
again the events of the day. I am indebted
to this discipline for a memory of unusual
tenacity, and I recommend the practice to all
who wish to store up facts, or expect to have
much to do with influencing men."

The careful student, after reading these
words of Thurlow Weed, will see that in
them he has not only given a method of re-
calling the particular class of occurrences
mentioned in this lesson, but has also pointed
out a way whereby the entire field of memory
may be trained and developed. The habit of
reviewing and "telling" the things that one
perceives, does and thinks during the day,
naturally sharpens the powers of future ob-
servation, attention and perception. If you
are witnessing a thing which you know that

To Remember Occurrences 167

you will be called upon to describe to another
person, you will instinctively apply your at-
tention to it. The knowledge that you will be
called upon for a description of a thing will
give the zest of interest or necessity to it,
which may be lacking otherwise. If you will
" sense' ' things with the knowledge that you
will be called upon to tell of them later on,
you will give the interest and attention that
go to make sharp, clear and deep impressions
on the memory. In this case the seeing and
hearing has "a meaning" to you, and a pur-
pose. In addition to this, the work of review
establishes a desirable habit of mind. If you
don't care to relate the occurrences to another
person— learn to tell them to yourself in the
evening. Play the part yourself. There is a
valuable secret of memory imbedded in this
chapter— if you are wise enough to apply it.

CHAPTER XVII.

HOW TO EEMEMBER FACTS.

In speaking of this phase of memory we use
the word "fact" in the sense of "an ascer-
tained item of knowledge," rather than in
the sense of "a happening," etc. In this
sense the Memory of Facts is the ability to
store away and recollect items of knowledge
bearing upon some particular thing under
consideration. If we are considering the sub-
ject of "Horse," the "facts" that we wish
to remember are the various items of infor-
mation and knowledge regarding the horse,
that we have acquired during opir experience
—facts that we have seen, heard or read, re-
garding the animal in question and to that
which concerns it. We are continually ac-
quiring items of information regarding all
kinds of subjects, and yet when we wish to
collect them we often find the task rather
difficult, even though the original impressions
were quite clear. The difficulty is largely due

168

To Eemembee Facts 169

to the fact that the various facts are asso-
ciated in our minds only by contiguity in time
or place, or both, the associations of relation
being lacking. In other words we have not
properly classified and indexed our bits of
information, and do not know where to begin
to search for them. It is like the confusion
of the business man who kept all of his papers
in a barrel, without index, or order. He
knew that "they are all there/ 9 but he had
hard work to find any one of them when it
was required. Or, we are like the compositor
whose type has become "pied," and then
thrown into a big box— when he attempts to
set up a book page, he will find it very diffi-
cult, if not impossible— whereas, if each let-
ter were in its proper "box," he would set
up the page in a short time.

This matter of association by relation is
one of the most important things in the whole
subject of thought, and the degree of correct
and efficient thinking depends materially
upon it. It does not suffice us to merely
"know" a thing— we must know where to
find it when we want it. As old Judge
Sharswood, of Pennsylvania, once said: "It

170 Memory

is not so much to know the law, as to know
where to find it." Kay says: "Over the asso-
ciations formed by contiguity in time or space
we have but little control. They are in a
manner accidental, depending upon the order
in which the objects present themselves to
the mind. On the other hand, association by
similarity is largely put in our own power;
for we, in a measure, select those objects that
are to be associated, and bring them together
in the mind. We must be careful, however,
only to associate together such things as we
wish to be associated together and to recall
each other; and the associations we form
should be based on fundamental and essential,
and not upon mere superficial or casual re-
semblances. "When things are associated by
their accidental, and not by their essential
qualities,— by their superficial, and not by
their fundamental relations, they will not be
available when wanted, and will be of little
real use. When we associate what is new
with what most nearly resembles it in the
mind already, we give it its proper place in
our fabric of thought. By means of associa-
tion by similarity, we tie up our ideas, as it

To Remember Facts 171

were, in separate bundles, and it is of the ut-
most importance that all the ideas that most
nearly resemble each other be in one bundle. ' '
The best way to acquire correct associa-
tions, and many of them, for a separate fact
that you wish to store away so that it may be
recollected when needed— some useful bit of
information or interesting bit of knowledge,
that "may come in handy' ■ later on— is to
analyze it and its relations. This may be done
by asking yourself questions about it— each
thing that you associate it with in your an-
swers being just one additional " cross-in-
dex' ' whereby you may find it readily when
you want it. As Kay says: "The principle
of asking questions and obtaining answers
to them, may be said to characterize all intel-
lectual effort" This is the method by which
Socrates and Plato drew out the knowledge
of their pupils, filling in the gaps and attach-
ing new facts to those already known. When
you wish to so consider a fact, ask yourself
the following questions about it:

I. Where did it come from or originate?
II. What caused it?
III. What history or record has it?

172 Memory

IV. What are its attributes, qualities and

characteristics ?
V. What things can I most readily asso-
ciate with it? What is it like?
VI. What is it good for— how may it be
used— what can I do with it?
VII. What does it prove— what can be de-
duced from it?
VIII. What are its natural results— what
happens because of it?
IX. What is its future ; and its natural or

probable end or finish?
X. What do I think of it, on the whole—
what are my general impressions
regarding it?
XI. What do I know -about it, in the way

of general information?
XII. What have I heard about it, and from

whom, and when?
If you will take the trouble to put any
"fact" through the above rigid examination,
you will not only attach it to hundreds of con-
venient and familiar other facts, so that you
will remember it readily upon occasion, but
you will also create a new subject of general
information in your mind of which this par-

To Eemembee Facts 173

ticular fact will be the central thought. Simi-
lar systems of analysis have been published
and sold by various teachers, at high prices—
and many men have considered that the re-
sults justified the expenditure. So do not
pass it by lightly.

The more other facts that you manage to
associate with any one fact, the more pegs
will you have to hang your facts upon— the
more " loose ends" will you have whereby to
pull that fact into the field of consciousness
—the more cross indexes will you have where-
by you may "run down" the fact when you
need it. The more associations you attach
to a fact, the more "meaning" does that fact
have for you, and the more interest will be
created regarding it in your mind. More-
over, by so doing, you make very probable
the "automatic" or involuntary recollection
of that fact when you are thinking of some
of its associated subjects ; that is, it will come
into your mind naturally in connection with
something else— in a "that reminds me"
fashion. And the oftener that you are invol-
untarily "reminded" of it, the clearer and
deeper does its impression become on the

174 Memory

records of your memory. The oftener you
use a fact, the easier does it become to recall
it when needed. The favorite pen of a man
is always at his hand in a remembered posi-
tion, while the less used eraser or similar
thing has to be searched for, often without;
success. And the more associations that you
bestow upon a fact, the oftener is it likely to>
be used.

Another point to be remembered is that the
future association of a fact depends very
much upon your system of filing away facts..
If you will think of this when endeavoring
to store away a fact for future reference, you
will be very apt to find the best mental pigeon-
hole for it* File it away with the thing it most
resembles, or to which it has the most familiar
relationship. The child does this, involun-
tarily—it is nature 's own way. For instance,
the child sees a zebra, it files away that ani-
mal as "a donkey with stripes ;" a giraffe as
a "long-necked horse ;" a camel as a "horse
with long, crooked legs, long neck and humps
on its back." The child always attaches its
new knowledge or fact on to some familiar
fact or bit of knowledge— sometimes the re-

To Eemembek Facts 175

suit is startling, but the child remembers by
means of it nevertheless. The grown up chil-
dren will do well to build similar connecting
links of memory. Attach the new thing to
some old familiar thing. It is easy when you
once have the knack of it. The table of ques-
tions given a little farther back will bring to
mind many connecting links. Use them.

If you need any proof of the importance of
association by relation, and of the laws gov-
erning its action, you have but to recall the
ordinary ' ' train of thought ' ' or " chain of im-
ages" in the mind, of which we become con-
scious when we are day-dreaming or indulg-
ing in reverie, or even in general thought re-
garding any subject. You will see that every
mental image or idea, or recollection is asso-
ciated with and connected to the preceding
thought and the one following it. It is a chain
that is endless, until something breaks into
the subject from outside. A fact flashes into
your mind, apparently from space and with-
out any reference to anything else. In such
cases you will find that it occurs either be-
cause you had previously set your subcon-
scious mentality at work upon some prob-

176 Memory

lem, or bit of recollection, and the flash was
the belated and delayed result; or else that
the fact came into your mind because of its
association with some other fact, which in
turn came from a precedent one, and so on.
You hear a distant railroad whistle and you
think of a train; then of a journey; then of
some distant place ; then of some one in that
place; then of some event in the life of that
person; then of a similar event in the life of
another person; then of that other person;
then of his or her brother; then of that
brother's last business venture; then of that
business ; then of some other business resem-
bling it; then of some people in that other
business ; then of their dealings with a man
you know ; then of the fact that another man
of a similar name to the last man owes you
some money; then of your determination to
get that money ; then you make a memoran-
dum to place the claim in the hands of a law-
yer to see whether it cannot be collected now,
although the man was "execution proof" last
year— from distant locomotive whistle to the
possible collection of the account. r And yet,
the links forgotten, the man will say that he

To Remember Facts 177

"just happened to think of" the debtor, or
that "it somehow flashed right into my
mind," etc. But it was nothing but the law
of association— that's all. Moreover, you
will now find that whenever you hear men-
tioned the term "association of mental
ideas," etc., you will remember the above il-
lustration or part of it We have forged
a new link in the chain of association for you,
and years from now it will appear in your
thoughts.

CHAPTER XVIII.

HOW TO REMEMBER WORDS, ETC.

In a preceding chapter we gave a number
of instances of persons who had highly de-
veloped their memory of words, sentences,
etc. History is full of instances of this kind.
The moderns fall far behind the ancients in
this respect ; probably because there does not
exist the present necessity for the feats of
memory which were once accepted as com-
monplace and not out of the ordinary. Among
ancient people, when printing was unknown
and manuscripts scarce and valuable, it was
the common custom of the people to learn
"by heart' ' the various sacred teachings of
their respective religions. The sacred books
of the Hindus were transmitted in this way,
and it was a common thing among the
Hebrews to be able to recite the books of
Moses and the Prophets entirely from mem-
ory. Even to this day the faithful Moham-
medans are taught to commit the entire

178

To Remember Words, Etc. 179

Koran to memory. And investigation re-
veals, always, that there has been used the
identical process of committing these sacred
books to memory, and recalling them at will
—the natural method, instead of an artificial
one. And therefore we shall devote this
chapter solely to this method whereby poems
or prose may be committed to memory and
recalled readily.

This natural method of memorizing words,
sentences, or verses is no royal road. It is
a system which must be mastered by steady
work and faithful review. One must start
at the beginning and work his way up. But
the result of such work will astonish anyone
not familiar with it. It is the very same
method that the Hindus, Hebrews, Moham-
medans, Norsemen, and the rest of the races,
memorized their thousands of verses and
hundreds of chapters of the sacred books of
their people. It is the method of the success-
ful actor, and the popular elocutionist, not to
mention those speakers who carefully commit
to memory their "impromptu" addresses and
' ' extemporaneous ? ' speeches.

This natural system of memorizing is based

180 Memory

upon the principle which has already been
alluded to in this book, and by which every
child learns its alphabet and its multiplica-
tion table, as well as the little "piece' ' that
it recites for the entertainment of its fond
parents and the bored friends of the family.
That principle consists of the learning of one
line at a time, and reviewing that line; then
learning a second line and reviewing that;
and then reviewing the two lines together;
and so on, each addition being reviewed in
connection with those that went before. The
child learns the sound of "A;" then it learns
"B;" then it associates the sounds of "A,
B" in its first review; the "C" is added and
the review runs: "A, B, C." And so on
until "Z" is reached and the child is able
to review the entire list from "A to Z," in-
clusive. The multiplication table begins with
its "twice 1 is 2," then "twice 2 is 4," and
so on, a little at a time until the " twos' ' are
finished and the "threes" begun. This pro-
cess is kept up, by constant addition and con-
stant review, until "12 twelves" finishes up
the list, and the child is able to repeat the
"tables" from first to last from memory.

To Remember Words, Etc. 181

But there is more to it, in the case of the
child, than merely learning to repeat the
alphabet or the multiplication table— there is
also the strengthening of the memory as a
result of its exercise and use. Memory, like
every faculty of the mind, or every muscle of
the body, improves and develops by intel-
ligent and reasonable use and exercise. Not
only does this exercise and use develop the
memory along the particular line of the fac-
ulty used, but also along every line and
faculty. This is so because the exercise de-
velops the power of concentration, and the
use of the voluntary attention.

We suggest that the student who wishes
to acquire a good memory for words, sen-
tences, etc., begin at once, selecting some fav-
orite poem for the purpose of the demonstra-
tion. Then let him memorize one verse of
not over four to six lines to begin with. Let
him learn this verse perfectly, line by line,
until he is able to repeat it without a mis-
take. Let him be sure to be "letter perfect"
in that verse—so perfect that he will "see"
even the capital letters and the punctuation
marks when he recites it. Then let him stop

182 Memory

for the day. The next day let him repeat the
verse learned the day before, and then let
him memorize a second verse in the same way,
and just as perfectly. Then let him review
the first and second verses together. This
addition of the second verse to the first serves
to weld the two together by association, and
each review of them together serves to add
a little bit to the weld, until they become
joined in the mind as are "A, B, C." The
third day let him learn a third verse, in the
same way and then review the three. Con-
tinue this for say a month, adding a new
verse each day and adding it to the verses
preceding it. But constantly review them
from beginning to end. He cannot review
them too often. He will be able to have them
flow along like the letters of the alphabet,
from "A" to "Z" if he reviews properly and
often enough.

Then, if he can spare the time, let him be-
gin the second month by learning two verses
each day, and adding to those that precede
them, with constant and faithful reviews. He
will find that he can memorize two verses, in
the second month, as easily as he did the one

To Remember Words, Etc. 183

verse in the first month. His memory has
been trained to this extent. And so, he may-
proceed from month to month, adding an
extra verse to his daily task, until he is un-
able to spare the time for all the -work, or
until he feels satisfied with what he has ac-
complished. Let him use moderation and
not try to become a phenomenon. Let him
avoid overstraining. After he has memorized
the entire poem, let him start with a new
one, but not forget to revive the old one at
frequent intervals. If he finds it impossible
to add the necessary number of new verses,
by reason of other occupation, etc., let him
not fail to keep up his review work. The ex-
ercise and review is more important than
the mere addition of so many new verses.

Let him vary the verses, or poems with
prose selections. He will find the verses of
the Bible very well adapted for such exer-
cise, as they lend themselves easily to regis-
tration in the memory. Shakespeare may be
used to advantage in this work. The ' ' Eubai-
yat" of Omar Khayyam; or the "Lady of the
Lake" by Scott; or the "Song Celestial" or
"Light of Asia" both by Edwin Arnold, will

184 Memoby

be found to be well adapted to this system
of memorizing, the verses of each being apt to
i ' stick in the memory, ' ' and each poem being
sufficiently long to satisfy the requirements
of even the most ambitious student. To look
at the complete poem (any of those men-
tioned) it would seem almost impossible that
one would ever be able to memorize and re-
cite it from beginning to end, letter perfect.
But on the principle of the continual dripping
of water wearing away the stone; or the
snowball increasing at each roll ; this practice
of a little being associated to what he already
has will soon allow him to accumulate a won-
derfully large store of memorized verses,
poems, recitations, etc. It is an actual dem-
onstration of the catchy words of the popu-
lar song which informs one that: " Every
little bit, added to what you've got, makes
just a little bit more."

After he has acquired quite a large assort-
ment of memorized selections, he will find it
impossible to review them all at one time.
But he should be sure to review them all at
intervals, no matter how many days may
elapse between each review.

To Remember Words, Etc. 185

The student who has familiarized himself
with the principles upon which memory de-
pends^ as given in the preceding chapters,
will at once see that the three principles of
attention, association and repetition are em-
ployed in the natural method herein recom-
mended. Attention must be given in order
to memorize each verse in the first place ; as-
sociation is employed in the relationship
created between the old verses and the new
ones ; and repetition is employed by the fre-
quent reviewing, which serves to deepen the
memory impression each time the poem is re-
peated. Moreover, the principle of interest
is invoked, in the gradual progress made, and
the accomplishment of what at first seemed
to be an impossible task— the game element
is thus supplied, which serves as an incen-
tive. These combined principles render this
method an ideal one, and it is not to be
wondered that the race has so recognized it
from the earliest times.

CHAPTER XIX.

HOW TO REMEMBEE BOOKS, PLAYS, TALES, ETC.

In the preceding chapters we have given
you suggestions for the development of the
principal forms of memory. But there are
still other phases or forms of memory, which
while coming under the general classification
may be still considered as worthy of special
consideration. For instance there may be
suggestions given regarding the memoriza-
tion of the contents of the books you read, the
stories you hear, etc. And so we have
thought it advisable to devote one chapter
to a consideration of these various phases
of memory that have been "left out" of the
other chapters.

Many of us fail to remember the important
things in the books we read, and are often
mortified by our ignorance regarding the con-
tents of the works of leading authors, or of
popular novels, which although we have read,
we have failed to impress upon the records

186

To Remember Books, Etc. 187

of our memory. Of course we must begin by
reminding you of the ever present necessity
of interest and attention— we cannot escape
from these principles of the memory. The
trouble with the majority of people is that
they read books "to kill time," as a sort of
mental narcotic or anaesthetic, instead of for
the purpose of obtaining something of inter-
est from them. By this course we not only
lose all that may be of importance or value
in the book, but also acquire the habit of care-
less reading and inattention. The prevalence
of the habit of reading many newspapers
and trashy novels is responsible for the ap-
parent inability of many persons to intel-
ligently absorb and remember the contents, of
a book "worth while" when they do happen
to take up such a one. But, still, even the
most careless reader may improve himself
and cure the habit of inattention and careless
reading.

Noah Porter says : "We have not read an
author till we have seen his object, whatever
it may be, as he saw it. ' ' Also : ' ' Read with
attention. This is the rule that takes prece-
dence of all others. It stands instead of a

188 Memory

score of minor directions. Indeed it com-
prehends them all, and is the golden rule.
. . . The page should be read as if it were
never to be seen a second time; the mental
eye should be fixed as if there were no other
object to think of; the memory should grasp
the facts like a vise; the impressions should
be distinctly and sharply received. ' ' It is not
necessary, nor is it advisable to attempt to
memorize the text of a book, excepting, per-
haps, a few passages that may seem worthy
to be treasured up word for word. The prin-
cipal thing to be remembered about a book is
its meaning— what it is about. Then may
follow the general outline, and the details of
the story, essay, treatise or whatever it may
be. The question that should be asked one-
self, after the book is completed, or after the
completion of some particular part of the
book, is: "What was the writer's idea—
what did he wish to say?" Get the idea of
the writer. By taking this mental attitude
you practically place yourself in the place
of the writer, and thus take part in the idea
of the book. You thus view it from the in-
side, rather than from the outside. You

To Remember Books, Etc. 189

place yourself at the centre of the thing, in-
stead of upon its circumference.

If the book be a history, biography, auto-
biography, narrative, or story of fact or fic-
tion, you will find it of value to visualize its
occurrences as the story unfolds. That is,
endeavor to form at least a faint mental pic-
ture of the events related, so that you see
them "in your mind's eye," or imagination.
Use your imagination in connection with the
mechanical reading. In this way you build
up a series of mental pictures, which will be
impressed upon your mind, and which will
be remembered just as are the scenes of a
play that you have witnessed, or an actual
event that you have seen, only less distinct
of course. Particularly should you endeavor
to form a clear mental picture of each char-
acter, until each one is endowed with at least
a semblance of reality to you. By doing this
you will impart a naturalness to the events
of the story and you will obtain a new pleas-
ure from your reading. Of course, this plan
will make you read more slowly, and many
trashy tales will cease to interest you, for
they do not contain the real elements of in-

190 Memory

terest— but this is no loss, but is a decided
gain for you. At the end of each reading,
take the time to mentally review the progress
of the story— let the characters and scenes
pass before your mental vision as in a mov-
ing picture. And when the book is finally
completed, review it as a whole. By follow-
ing this course, you will not only acquire the
habit of easily remembering the tales and
books that you have read, but will also obtain
much pleasure by re-reading favorite stories
in your imagination, years after. You will
find that your favorite characters will take
on a new reality for you, and will become as
old friends in whose company you may enjoy
yourself at any time, and whom you may dis-
miss when they tire you, without offense.

In the case of scientific treatises, essays,
etc., you may follow a similar plan by divid-
ing the work into small sections and mentally
reviewing the thought— (not the words) of
each section until you make it your own ; and
then by adding new sections to your review,
you may gradually absorb and master the en-
tire work. All this requires time, work and
patience, but you will be repaid for your ex-

To Remember Books, Etc. 191

penditure. You will find that this plan will
soon render you impatient at books of little
consequence, and will drive you to the best
books on any given subject. You will begin
to begrudge your time and attention, and hes-
itate about bestowing them upon any but the
very best books. But in this you gain.

In order to fully acquaint yourself with a
book, before reading it you should familiarize
yourself with its general character. To do
this you should pay attention to the full title,
and the sub- title, if there be any; the name
of the author and the list of other books that
he has written, if they are noted on the title
page, or the one preceding it, according to
the usual custom. You should read the pref-
ace and study carefully the table of contents,
that you may know the field or general sub-
ject covered by the book— in other words en-
deavor to get the general outline of the book,
into which you may afterwards fill in the de-
tails.

In reading a book of serious import, you
should make it a point to fully grasp the
meaning of each paragraph before passing
on to the next one. Let nothing pass you that

192 Memoby

you do not understand, at least in a general
way. Consult the dictionary for words not
familiar to you, so that you may grasp the
full idea intended to be expressed. At the
end of each chapter, section and part, you
should review that which you have read, until
you are able to form a mental picture of the
general ideas contained therein.

To those who wish to remember the dra-
matic productions that they have attended,
we would say that the principles above men-
tioned may be applied to this form of mem-
ory as well as to the memory of books. By
taking an interest in each character as it ap-
pears ; by studying carefully each action and
scene, and then reviewing each act in the in-
tervals between the acts; and by finally re-
viewing the entire play after your return
home; you will fasten the whole play as a
complete mental picture, on the records of
your memory. If you have acquainted your-
self with what we have just said regarding
the recollection of the contents of books, you
will be able to modify and adapt them to the
purpose of recollecting plays and dramatic
productions. You will find that the oftener

To Remember Hooks, Kj llio

you review a play, the more dearly will you
remember it. Many little details overlooked

at first will come into the field of COB
I and fit into their proper places.
Sermons, lectures and other di jay

be remembered by bestowing interest and at-
tention upon them, arid by attempting to
grasp each general idea m r J, and by

noting the passage from one general idea to
another. If you will practice this a few
times, you will find that when you come to
review the discourse (and this you should
always do— it is the natural way of dew
ing memory) the little details will come up
and fit into their proper places. In this form
of memory, the important thing is to train
the memory by exercise and review. You will
find that at each review of a discourse you
will have made progress. By practice and
exercise, the subconscious mentality will do
better work, and will show that it is ri
to its new responsibilities. You have allowed
it to sleep during the many discourses to
which you have listened, and it must be
taught new habits. Let it know that it is ex-
pected to retain that which it hears, and then

194 Memory

exercise it frequently by reviews of dis-
courses, and you will be surprised at the de-
gree of the work it will perform for you.
Not only will you remember better, but you
will hear better and more intelligently. The
subconsciousness, knowing that it will be
called upon later on to recollect what is being
said, will urge you to bestow the attention
necessary to supply it with the proper ma-
terial.

To those who have had trouble in remem-
bering discourses, we urge that they should
begin to attend lectures and other forms of
discourse, with the distinct purpose of devel-
oping that form of memory. Give to the sub-
conscious mentality the positive command
that it shall attend to what is being said, and
shall record the same in such a way that when
you review the discourse afterward you will
be presented with a good synopsis or syllabus
of it. You should avoid any attempt to mem-
orize the words of the discourse— your pur-
pose being to absorb and record the ideas and
general thought expressed. Interest— Atten-
tion— Practice— Eeview— these are the im-
portant points in memory.

To Remember Books, Etc. 195

To remember stories, anecdotes, fables,
etc., the principles given above are to be em-
ployed. The main thing in memorizing an
anecdote is to be able to catch the funda-
mental idea underlying it, and the epigram-
matic sentence, or central phrase which forms
the "point" of the story. Be sure that you
catch these perfectly, and then commit the
"point" to memory. If necessary make a
memorandum of the point, until you have
opportunity to review the story in your mind.
Then carefully review it mentally, letting the
mental image of thg idea pass before you
in review, and then repeating it to yourself
in your own words. By rehearsing and re-
viewing the story, you make it your own and
will be able to relate it afterward just as
you would something that you had actually
experienced. So true is this principle, that
when carried too far it endows the story with
a false sense of actuality— who has not known
men who told a story so often that they came
actually to believe it themselves? Do not
carry the principle to this extreme but use
it in moderation. The trouble with many men
is that they attempt to repeat a tale, long

196 Memory

after they have heard it, without reviewing
or rehearsing in the meantime. Conse-
quently they omit many important points,
because they have failed to impress the
story as a whole upon the memory. In
order to know an anecdote properly, one
should be able to see its characters and
incidents, just as he does when he sees
an illustrated joke in a comic paper. If
you can make a mental picture of an anec-
dote, you will be apt to remember it with
ease. The noted story tellers review and re-
hearse their jokes, and have been known to
try them on their unsuspecting friends in
order to get the benefit of practice before
relating them in public— this practice has
been called by flippant people: "trying it on
the dog." But it has its good points, and ad-
vantages. It at least saves one the mortifica-
tion of being compelled to finish up a long-
drawn out tale by an: "Er— well, um-m-m— -
I'm afraid I've forgotten just how that story
ended— but it was a good one!"

CHAPTER XX.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS.

In this chapter we shall call your attention
to certain of the general principles already
mentioned in the preceding chapters, for the
purpose of further impressing them upon
your mind, and in order that you may be able
to think of and to consider them independent
of the details of the special phases of memory.
This chapter may be considered in the nature
of a general review of certain fundamental
principles mentioned in the body of the work.

POINT I. Give to the thing that you wish
to memorize, as great a degree of concen-
trated attention as possible.

We have explained the reason for this ad-
vice in many places in the book. The degree
of concentrated attention bestowed upon the
object under consideration, determines the
strength, clearness and depth of the impres-
sion received and stored away in the subcon-
sciousness. The character of these stored

197

198 Memory

away impressions determines the degree of
ease in remembrance and recollection.

POINT II. In considering an object to be
memorized, endeavor to obtain the impres-
sions through as many faculties and senses
as possible.

The reason for this advice should be ap-
parent to you, if you have carefully read
the preceding chapters. An impression re-
ceived through both sound and sight is doubly
as strong as one received through but one of
these channels. You may remember a name,
or word, either by having seen it in writing
or print; or else by reason of having heard
it; but if you have both seen and heard it
you have a double impression, and possess
two possible ways of reviving the impres-
sion. You are able to remember an orange
by reason of having seen it, smelt it, felt it
and tasted it, and having heard its name
pronounced. Endeavor to know a thing from
as many sense impressions as possible— use
the eye to assist ear-impressions; and the
ear to assist in eye-impressions. See the
thing from as many angles as possible.

POINT III. Sense impressions may be

General Instructions 199

strengthened by exercising the particular
faculty through which the weak impressions
are received.

You will find that either your eye memory
is better than your ear memory, or vice versa.
The remedy lies in exercising the weaker
faculty, so as to bring it up to the standard
of the stronger. The chapters of eye and
ear training will help you along these lines.
The same rule applies to the several phases
of memory— develop the weak ones, and the
strong ones will take care of themselves. The
only way to develop a sense or faculty is to
intelligently train, exercise and use it. Use,
exercise and practice will work miracles in
this direction.

POINT IV. Make your first impression
strong and firm enough to serve as a basis
for subsequent ones.

Get into the habit of fixing a clear, strong
impression of a thing to be considered, from
the first. Otherwise you are trying to build
up a large structure upon a poor foundation.
Each time you revive an impression you
deepen it, but if you have only a dim impres-
sion to begin with, the deepened impressions

200 Memory

will not include details omitted in the first
one. It is like taking a good sharp negative
of a picture that you intend to enlarge after-
ward. The details lacking in the small pic-
ture will not appear in the enlargement ; but
those that do appear in the small one, will be
enlarged with the picture.

POINT V. Revive your impressions fre-
quently and thus deepen them.

You will know more of a picture by seeing
it a few minutes every day for a week, than
you would by spending several hours before
it at one time. So it is with the memory. By
recalling an impression a number of times,
you fix it indelibly in your mind in such a
way that it may be readily found when
needed. Such impressions are like favorite
tools which you need every little while—
they are not apt to be mislaid as are those
which are but seldom used. Use your imagi-
nation in "going over" a thing that you wish
to remember. If you are studying a thing,
you will find that this "going over" in your
imagination will help you materially in dis-
closing the things that you have not remem-
bered about it. By thus recognizing your

General Instructions 201

weak points of memory, you may be able to
pick up the missing details when you study
the object itself the next time.

POINT VI. Use your memory and place
confidence in it.

One of the important things in the cultiva-
tion of the memory is the actual use of it.
Begin to trust it a little, and then more, and
then still more, and it will rise to the occa-
sion. The man who has to tie a string around
his finger in order to remember certain
things, soon begins to cease to use his mem-
ory, and in the end forgets to remember the
string, or what it is for. There are many de-
tails, of course, with which it is folly to
charge the memory, but one should never
allow his memory to fall into disuse. If you
are in an occupation in which the work is
done by mechanical helps, then you should
exercise the memory by learning verses, or
other things, in order to keep it in active
practice. Do not allow your memory to
atrophy.

POINT VII. Establish as many associa-
tions for an impression, as possible.

If you have studied the preceding chapters,

202 Memoey

you will recognize the value of this point.
Association is memory's method of indexing
and cross-indexing. Each association renders
it easier to remember or recollect the thing.
Each association gives you another string to
your mental bow. Endeavor to associate a
new bit of knowledge with something already
known by, and familiar to you. In this way
to avoid the danger of having the thing iso-
lated and alone in your mind— without a label,
or index number and name, connect your
object or thought to be remembered with
other objects or thoughts, by the association
of contiguity in space and time, and by re-
lationship of kind, resemblance or opposite-
ness. Sometimes the latter is very useful, as
in the case of the man who said that ' ' Smith
reminds me so much of Brown— he's so dif-
ferent. 99 You will often be able to remember
a thing by remembering something else that
happened at the same place, or about the
same time— these things give you the "loose
ends' 9 of recollection whereby you may un-
wind the ball of memory. In the same way,
one is often able to recollect names by slowly
running over the alphabet, with a pencil,

General Instructions 203

until the sight of the capital first letter of the
name brings the memory of those following
it— this, however, only when the name has
previously been memorized by sight. In the
same way the first few notes of a musical
selection will enable you to remember the
whole air; or the first words of a sentence,
the entire speech or selection following it.
In trying to remember a thing which has es-
caped you, you will find it helpful to think
of something associated with that thing, even
remotely. A little practice will enable you
to recollect the thing along the lines- of the
faintest association or clue. Some men are
adept memory detectives, following this plan.
The " loose end" in memory is all the expert
requires. Any associations furnish these
loose ends. An interesting and important
fact to remember in this connection is that
if you have some one thing that tends to es-
cape your memory, you may counteract the
trouble by noting the associated things that
have previously served to bring it into mind
with you. The associated thing once noted,
may thereafter be used as a loose end with
which to unwind the elusive fact or impres-

204 Memory

sion. This idea of association is quite fas-
cinating when you begin to employ it in your
memory exercises and work. And you will
find many little methods of using it. But
always use natural association, and avoid the
temptation of endeavoring to tie your mem-
ory up with the red-tape of the artificial
systems.

POINT VIII. Group your impressions.

This is but a form of association, but is
very important. If you can arrange your bits
of knowledge and fact into logical groups,
you will. .always be master of your subject.
By associating your knowledge with other
knowledge along the same general lines, both
by resemblances and by opposites, you will
be able to find what you need just when you
need it. Napoleon Bonaparte had a mind
trained along these lines. He said that his
memory was like a large case of small drawers
and pigeon-holes, in which he filed his in-
formation according to its kind. In order to
do this he used the methods mentioned in this
book of comparing the new thing with the old
ones, and then deciding into which group it
naturally fitted. This is largely a matter of

General Instructions 205

practice and knack, but it may be acquired by
a little thought and care, aided by practice.
And it will repay one well for the trouble
in acquiring it. The following table will be
found useful in classifying objects, ideas,
facts, etc., so as to correlate and associate
them with other facts of a like kind. The
table is to be used in the line of questions ad-
dressed to oneself regarding the thing under
consideration. It somewhat resembles the
table of questions given in Chapter XVII, of
this book, but has the advantage of brevity.
Memorize this table and use it. You will be
delighted at the results, after you have caught
the knack of applying it.

QUERY TABLE. Ask yourself the fol-
lowing questions regarding the thing under
consideration. It will draw out many bits of
information and associated knowledge in your
mind:

(1) WHAT? (5) HOW?

(2) WHENCE? (6) WHY!

(3) WHERE? (7) WHITHER?

(4) WHEN?

While the above Seven Queries are given
you as a means of acquiring clear impres-

206 Memoky

sions and associations, they will also serve
as a Magic Key to Knowledge, if you use
them intelligently. If you can answer these
questions regarding anything, you will know
a great deal about that particular thing. And
after you have answered them fully, there
will be but little unexpressed knowledge re-
garding that thing left in your memory. Try
them on some one thing— you cannot under-
stand them otherwise, unless you have a very
good imagination.

FINIS.

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